The next entry in my child-self's diary really contextualizes the time of when I wrote it:

Sun. 22 Oct 1989:

Dear Anne,
Not much happened today, so I will devote this entry to the weather & especially natural disasters. Not too long ago, Hurricane Hugo swept across the ocean & destroyed cities & islands. It even submerged one island completely! On CNN, the news reports were all about the recovery efforts in South Carilina & the Virgin Islands. Then, a few days ago, there was a very big earthquake in central California, & everyone forgot about the hurricane immediately. Of course, they had good reason to. It measured 6.9 on the Rictor Scale! The worst thing that happened to any of my numerous relatives that lives over there was somebody's house fell off a hill. Of course, no one was in the house, so it wasn't too bad. But the Oakland Bridge fell down! Not to mention this really big double decker freeway! I'm glad that I don't live where there are any earthquakes! Tornadoes are enough for me, thank you. I've got to go now, it's over a half an hour past my bedtime!
Yours truly,
Jodi

So now we've grounded this thing in history. Yet how little has changed! How much did the major U.S. news outlets cover Tsunami recovery once Katrina hit?
My mom's cousins whose house fell rebuilt it in the same spot. I'm pretty sure Californians are crazy.
I think I actually watched the news more when I was 12 than I do now.