A relief concert was held Saturday to benefit the victims of last month’s 6.4 and 7.1 magnitude earthquakes near Ridgecrest.
The concert took place at the Desert Empire Fairgrounds over a month after the earthquakes hit the communities of Ridgequest, Trona, and Inyokern. Hundreds of people came to the concert to help those still in need.
“What’s bad is when they’re long aftershocks cause then you wonder what’s coming, is this the next one? said Ridgecrest resident Vincent Tulino.
Like many others who came out to Saturday’s concert, Vincent Tulino says the main toll the earthquake took on Ridgecrest, was a mental one.
"After the 7.1 we actually went and stayed with friends in vegas for a week. We were actually getting motion sickness in our house from the aftershocks. It was just constant rumblings to the point where you were just sitting on the couch, trying to relax, but you feel like there’s a subwoofer underneath the couch, just low-level rumbling and the earth moving," Tulino said.
And he wasn’t the only one who had a hard time dealing with the aftermath. Dorothy Ochtun also lives in Ridgecrest.
"We ended up leaving that night, about 2:30 in the morning, and going to Arizona to stay with my daughter. We ended up staying 19 days because she was unhappy with the way I was reacting to it," she said.
The concert gave people like Tulino and Ochtun a chance to raise money for those who were affected not only mentally, but who can’t live in their home.
“We’re not talking about like huge amounts that we give to each individual, were talking about those things that can be fixed, maybe, to get some people back into a residence. Maybe focusing on the yellow-tagged ones that actually just need repairs to get people back inside," said Nino Agostinacci, the event's co-coordinator.
Everyone involved with Saturday’s event was excited to help.
“Things like this really bring our community together and we are very thankful to have other groups and like-minded people who are just willing to go out of their way and bring unity to this place," said Cedric Knight, who plays bass and sings vocals for the Ridgecrest-based band Foreseers.
“The reward for doing this is just the satisfaction of the people that are here, the amount of help that we are able to provide when this is all said and done," Agostinacci said.
Tickets to the show were $5 each. Event officials did not specify how much money they hope to raise from the event.
