On Oct. 17, 1989 a massive earthquake struck The City where I lived, devastating the Bay Area, killing 63 people, injuring thousands.
The Loma Prieta quake is unforgettable. Today, let us look back at those fateful seconds that elapsed at 5:04 p.m on this day in 1989 and the aftermath that frankly could easily have been much worse than it was.
I cannot claim to have been directly affected by the '89 quake in any significantly adverse way; I was very fortunate.
In fact, I was in a place that might have been the absolute best place to be during an earthquake. I was lucky enough to have been playing tennis, of all things at the time. It's especially odd considering I was hardly an avid tennis player. In addition, the fact that a huge baseball fan was outdoors far from home just minutes before the first pitch of Game 3 of the Bay Bridge World Series still baffles me. (Yeah, way back in the 80s they actually played the 'Series in mid-October.)
Many people were not so lucky.
The highest number of fatalities, 42, occurred in the City of Oakland due to the failure of the Cypress Street Viaduct on the Nimitz Freeway (Interstate 880), where a double-deck portion of the freeway collapsed, crushing the cars on the lower deck.
On a normal day, this freeway was usually jam-packed with bumper-to-bumper traffic. The fact that so few unlucky people were crushed by the Nimitz collapse is generally attributed to the fact that people wanted to be home early so they could see the game. Of all years to have such a pairing in the fall classic. To think, baseball actually saved lives!
Rumors began to trickle in that "the Bay Bridge had collapsed". There was a general sense of dread rising in everyone. So few people had any idea just how bad things really were. We, of course, not only later learned that it was but one section of the Bridge that fell, but saw video footage of an unfortunate motorist who plunged into the gap killing himself and seriously injuring the passenger.
Many people who, like me, love the city of San Francisco, would say that the Marina is the most beautiful neighborhood in town. Ornate homes built on landfill shifted, a few collapsed, and as the darkness fell on The City that had lost power, an eerie glow shone as fires erupted from the northernmost point in town.
For those at Candlestick Park, a 62,000-seat stadium, there was another story.
With the power out, we were in the same boat as the fans, unaware of how serious this earthquake was both inside and outside the stadium. You have to remember, this was before cell phones, smart phones and the Internet. The press box phones were out. Our best hope for communications would have been one of those parrots that flew from house to house distributing news on "The Flintstones."
They were lucky that fewer than half of the fans had arrived yet and that a seismic-strengthening project had been done to keep the 'Stick standing tall just in case of such an event. Thank you, government foresight!
When the shaking stopped, fans at the ballpark cheered as might be expected of those who live through numerous minor tremblors. Like my tennis partner, they thought it was just another quake and that life would soon go on like normal.
I knew otherwise right away.
Immediately I got on my scooter to find out if my mom was alright. I was dangerously low on gas and no station in town was able to dispense fuel without power. To this day, I try to never get below 1/4 tank in case of such emergencies. It's one of the many ways that the events of that day changed my life.
From the USGS:
The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake ended decades of tranquility in the San Francisco Bay region. It was a wakeup call to prepare for the potentially even more devastating shocks that are inevitable in the future. Since 1989, the work of the U.S. Geological Survey and other organizations has improved understanding of the seismic threat in the Bay region, promoted awareness of earthquake hazards, and contributed to more effective strategies to reduce earthquake losses. These efforts will help reduce the impact of future large quakes in the San Francisco Bay region.
-Robert Page, U.S. Geological Survey
I consider myself very lucky on numerous fronts, not the least of which is the fact that state and local governments heeded the warnings of scientists and experts about possible future events. Had there not been millions of dollars invested, this tragedy could have been worse than the ruinous quake and fire of 1906.
If only the people in charge of the levees in Louisiana had been given the same resources to protect its populace, we surely could have alleviated the damage of Katrina, if not prevented death and horrible destruction altogether.
As we prepare for the summit in Denmark next month, will mankind come together to work to avoid catastrophe on a much, much bigger scale?