San Francisco 16 years later
October 17, 2005 11:41 AM Subscribe
Where were you 16 years ago at 5:04 pm PST? I was in this building in downtown San Francisco, one of the City's oldest skyscrapers. In our office, we had turned on the radio to listen to Game 3 of the World Series between the A's and the Giants, known as the "Bay Bridge Series". We didn't know the Bay Bridge was about to collapse. [More inside.]
Yeah, the funny thing about Loma Prieta is that everyone always talks about how it affected San Francisco when the epicenter was about 8 miles south of Santa Cruz and it pretty well mashed the city not that I can blame anyone since SF has about fifty times as many people. I can walk around downtown Santa Cruz today and still see signs of the earthquake.
And one can still hike up to the epicenter and see trees sheared off halfway up from the violent shaking.
posted by fenriq at 11:46 AM on October 17, 2005 [1 favorite]
And one can still hike up to the epicenter and see trees sheared off halfway up from the violent shaking.
posted by fenriq at 11:46 AM on October 17, 2005 [1 favorite]
With all due respect to the dead and injured, there was one wonderful thing about being in San Francisco that night. Because the power was out all down the peninsula, I could stand on the sidewalk in front of my apartment in the Haight-Ashbury, look up, and see the Milky Way -- a night sky full of stardust, one time only in my 25 years of living roughly in the same neighborhood.
posted by digaman at 11:47 AM on October 17, 2005
posted by digaman at 11:47 AM on October 17, 2005
I remember watching the aftermath on TV: the crumpled sections of road on the Bay Bridge, the effort to retrieve the people trapped under the pancake freeways.
I'd almost forgotten about the Embarcadero Freeway; it's fading like the bad memory it is. Seriously, the ugliness and sheer idiocy of that stupid freeway cannot be overstated.
posted by keswick at 11:53 AM on October 17, 2005
I'd almost forgotten about the Embarcadero Freeway; it's fading like the bad memory it is. Seriously, the ugliness and sheer idiocy of that stupid freeway cannot be overstated.
posted by keswick at 11:53 AM on October 17, 2005
I was in the left field bleachers at Candlestick. I turned to a co-worker sitting next to me when I first heard the rumble and thought it was a sonic boom.
posted by stevefromsparks at 11:56 AM on October 17, 2005
posted by stevefromsparks at 11:56 AM on October 17, 2005
I turned to a co-worker sitting next to me when I first heard the rumble and thought it was a sonic boom.
Even though I live on the west coast (Vancouver Island) I've really only been aware of one earthquake. I was sleeping and woke to what I thought was the sound of a helicopter overhead. The idea that an earthquake could be so loud just never occurred to me.
posted by 327.ca at 12:00 PM on October 17, 2005
Even though I live on the west coast (Vancouver Island) I've really only been aware of one earthquake. I was sleeping and woke to what I thought was the sound of a helicopter overhead. The idea that an earthquake could be so loud just never occurred to me.
posted by 327.ca at 12:00 PM on October 17, 2005
The oddness of earthquakes and the way they shake and rattle and roll and whatnot: I grew up in a little town in the Santa Cruz Mountains, about 15 miles from the epicenter. The only damage we suffered was a broken coffee mug and a knocked-over dresser.
Anyway, I was 14, and laying on my folks' couch waitin' for the game to start. I actually thought it was a logging truck rolling by. Took my mom's and sister's yells to make me realize what was happening. I remember standing in the front doorway of our house, watching leaves fall from the huge oak in our front yard, and thinking, "Damn. I'm gonna have to rake those up." It's funny how a 14-year-old mind works.
posted by Speck at 12:01 PM on October 17, 2005
Anyway, I was 14, and laying on my folks' couch waitin' for the game to start. I actually thought it was a logging truck rolling by. Took my mom's and sister's yells to make me realize what was happening. I remember standing in the front doorway of our house, watching leaves fall from the huge oak in our front yard, and thinking, "Damn. I'm gonna have to rake those up." It's funny how a 14-year-old mind works.
posted by Speck at 12:01 PM on October 17, 2005
I remember being in the kitchen watching the pre-game show on TV when the announcers said something about an earthquake and then static.................................................
posted by caddis at 12:01 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by caddis at 12:01 PM on October 17, 2005
I was managing a check-cashing store in East Palo Alto (then the murder capital of the US) when my old Ford pickup started rocking side to side in the parking lot, the stereo speakers in the store fell off the wall, and then the power went out. I counted out, locked the doors and spent the next three hours navigating a commute than normally took 20 minutes.
I still have the next-day 16-page edition of the Chronicle that they produced on Macs (they used the default system font as I recall).
Good times...
posted by DandyRandy at 12:06 PM on October 17, 2005
I still have the next-day 16-page edition of the Chronicle that they produced on Macs (they used the default system font as I recall).
Good times...
posted by DandyRandy at 12:06 PM on October 17, 2005
I remember sitting bolt upright when this happened, as I was watching it on TV in a ninth-floor apartment downtown in a city along the Southeastern US fall line.
posted by alumshubby at 12:10 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by alumshubby at 12:10 PM on October 17, 2005
I know I won't forget where I was when I felt this monster quake yesterday...not for a few days, at least.
posted by Guy Smiley at 12:19 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by Guy Smiley at 12:19 PM on October 17, 2005
I was in Mill Valley on my way home from a soccer game, when a playground that I was driving by started waving like it was made of rubber. I had no idea how serious it was till reports on the radio started comming in, and I got home finding a big crack in the sheetrock wall in the living room.
posted by atom128 at 12:19 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by atom128 at 12:19 PM on October 17, 2005
Though I almost never watch baseball, I had managed to flip channels to the local ABC affiliate just at the moment that the Monday Night Baseball crew were noticing the tremor (IIRC, they got knocked off the air for a few seconds. Does anyone else remember?)
At the time I was a graduate student living in Bloomington, IN.
posted by briank at 12:20 PM on October 17, 2005
At the time I was a graduate student living in Bloomington, IN.
posted by briank at 12:20 PM on October 17, 2005
I was in Southern California when this one hit. I was in Northern California when the big one hit Northridge. I miss out on everything!
posted by nevafeva at 12:25 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by nevafeva at 12:25 PM on October 17, 2005
I had flown out from SFO an hour earlier, at the conclusion of my first trip to the US. It was most eerie to find out about it when I got home. Thanks for the link, I'd forgotten all about the 'quake.
posted by punilux at 12:28 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by punilux at 12:28 PM on October 17, 2005
I was walking alongside a building that was being torn down when the quake started. I stopped in my tracks when the ground started shaking and street traffic came to a halt. Then the ground started rolling. And it kept rolling. I' d been in earthquakes before and I'd never seen the ground roll like that and the shaking had never as long lasting. I must have heard some noise from the building beside me because the next thing I remember is running across the street dodging falling debris.
I managed to hitch hike home to Santa Cruz the next day but before I got home all I knew about Santa Cruz was that downtown was destroyed. Luckily only a few people died in all that destruction. The downtown that grew back was very different from the pre-quake downtown and is much less pleasant.
posted by rdr at 12:36 PM on October 17, 2005 [1 favorite]
I managed to hitch hike home to Santa Cruz the next day but before I got home all I knew about Santa Cruz was that downtown was destroyed. Luckily only a few people died in all that destruction. The downtown that grew back was very different from the pre-quake downtown and is much less pleasant.
posted by rdr at 12:36 PM on October 17, 2005 [1 favorite]
I was watching the series on television. I remember the color getting strange and losing the picture. I thought it was kinda weird to "see" an earthquake live on tv. IIRC the picture went but the audio stayed on...maybe briank remembers more than I do.
posted by MikeMc at 12:36 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by MikeMc at 12:36 PM on October 17, 2005
Driving on 101 just coming up to the Waldo Tunnel. The radio went fritzy, the car started weaving, and I thought I was having a stroke.
posted by paddbear at 12:42 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by paddbear at 12:42 PM on October 17, 2005
I was living in Portola Valley and we felt the shaking but it was very muted, all it did was crack a single glass that fell over. Of course it shut down the power and we had to go out for food. It was odd but kind of nice to see the road packed with cars moving slowly; like a massive indian summer cruising strip.
posted by Vaska at 12:46 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by Vaska at 12:46 PM on October 17, 2005
I was in college in Oregon, worried sick about my brother who lived in Santa Cruz at the time. He finally got a call through to my aunt in Seattle and we did a phone chain for the rest of the family.
posted by Karmakaze at 12:46 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by Karmakaze at 12:46 PM on October 17, 2005
I was watching the game in Ireland - but I lived near Santa Cruz for a while just before the earthquake, so was much concerned. However, at 16 years distance, I can tell this old joke....
On a tour of Tokyo, a group of American tourists were just checking in to their hotel rooms when a minor earthquake struck. One of the group yelled out, "I'm from San Francisco - we stand in the doorways!" Another replied, "I'm from Ohio, where do we stand?
posted by Sk4n at 12:48 PM on October 17, 2005
On a tour of Tokyo, a group of American tourists were just checking in to their hotel rooms when a minor earthquake struck. One of the group yelled out, "I'm from San Francisco - we stand in the doorways!" Another replied, "I'm from Ohio, where do we stand?
posted by Sk4n at 12:48 PM on October 17, 2005
I was eating dinner on Telegraph Avenue near the Berkeley campus with a woman I loved unrequitedly, and wound up not being able to get home to West Berkeley that evening: A memorable sleepless night on somebody else's couch.
Just as well: I lived in a basement apartment, and the concrete floor, aside from radiating the chill from the ground up through the carpet and mattress, also amplified the shock waves. The place looked like it had been put through a blender.
The Northridge quake of 1972, the Loma Prieta quake, the Berkeley Hills wildfire, then, after a transfer to a geologically inert and noncombustible locale, 9-11: Bad luck and trouble seem to follow me around.
posted by cbrayton at 12:48 PM on October 17, 2005
Just as well: I lived in a basement apartment, and the concrete floor, aside from radiating the chill from the ground up through the carpet and mattress, also amplified the shock waves. The place looked like it had been put through a blender.
The Northridge quake of 1972, the Loma Prieta quake, the Berkeley Hills wildfire, then, after a transfer to a geologically inert and noncombustible locale, 9-11: Bad luck and trouble seem to follow me around.
posted by cbrayton at 12:48 PM on October 17, 2005
We left our homeport of Alameda about two/three weeks prior. Most of the ship's families were still in the area. Being out at sea, we really didn't any news other than the the front page of the (photocopied) Stars and Stripes.
It too a couple of weeks for everything to filter down (aside from the ballgame stories) and I realized that the highway next to Jack London Square had been pancaked. We had a lot of good times down at the London Lodge, even caused $2500 worth of damage to a hotel room prior to departing.
I've never been back.
posted by jsavimbi at 12:57 PM on October 17, 2005
It too a couple of weeks for everything to filter down (aside from the ballgame stories) and I realized that the highway next to Jack London Square had been pancaked. We had a lot of good times down at the London Lodge, even caused $2500 worth of damage to a hotel room prior to departing.
I've never been back.
posted by jsavimbi at 12:57 PM on October 17, 2005
One of my friends was on a cross-country motorcycle trip and had driven across the Bay Bridge earlier that day.
One positive result of the earthquake was the demolition of the ugly-ass Embarcadero Freeway.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:57 PM on October 17, 2005
One positive result of the earthquake was the demolition of the ugly-ass Embarcadero Freeway.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:57 PM on October 17, 2005
I was in Saratoga, seventeen years old, watching the baseball pregame with my brother-in-law, who'd only recently immigrated from England. The quake started, and I said "Hey! This is an earthquake! This is great!" wanting to share this facet of Californian life with him. But the quake continued.
We had a covered patio, with sliding glass doors on three sides. These all fell out and shattered on the tile as my brother-in-law and I cowered on the sofa.
As the motion subsided, I looked out in the back yard to see the swimming pool water slooshing out and up onto the patio. I remember it being almost half empty afterwards.
I think what I remember the most vividly is driving on pitchblack streets to Harry's Bavarian, a local deli, for supplies, and finding when we got there that just about every bottle of beer and booze in the place had shattered on the ground. That wafting smell of alcohol is the single strongest association I have with the event.
A couple of years later, I was a student at UCSC and working at the Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Company, in their new location on Pacific Avenue. The old brick building had collapsed in the quake, killing a couple of employees. The Pacific Garden Mall was still in tents for a lot of my time there.
That earthquake, if I remember correctly, lasted some thirty seconds, and was particularly destructive due to the circular motion, as opposed to back-and-forth jolts.
posted by Kafkaesque at 12:58 PM on October 17, 2005
We had a covered patio, with sliding glass doors on three sides. These all fell out and shattered on the tile as my brother-in-law and I cowered on the sofa.
As the motion subsided, I looked out in the back yard to see the swimming pool water slooshing out and up onto the patio. I remember it being almost half empty afterwards.
I think what I remember the most vividly is driving on pitchblack streets to Harry's Bavarian, a local deli, for supplies, and finding when we got there that just about every bottle of beer and booze in the place had shattered on the ground. That wafting smell of alcohol is the single strongest association I have with the event.
A couple of years later, I was a student at UCSC and working at the Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Company, in their new location on Pacific Avenue. The old brick building had collapsed in the quake, killing a couple of employees. The Pacific Garden Mall was still in tents for a lot of my time there.
That earthquake, if I remember correctly, lasted some thirty seconds, and was particularly destructive due to the circular motion, as opposed to back-and-forth jolts.
posted by Kafkaesque at 12:58 PM on October 17, 2005
Sixteen years ago? Snakes on a plane! I was in LA, and caught it flipping channels. I still have a horror of double-decker freeways.
posted by Space Kitty at 1:01 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by Space Kitty at 1:01 PM on October 17, 2005
What a mess that was. I was living with my folks, just above the marina. Our quiet street was instantly flooded with people who I had never seen before - our neighbors. We heard rumors of a bridge collapse, but we didn't know how serious it was (or wasn't). There were several fires burning in the marina, one directly below us, and we couldn't see anyone there to put them out. That night, in the marina, looters were going through people's homes. The big lessons for me: Keep a flashlight handy, and a radio with batteries. The problem was that all the battery powered radios either had headphones or earbuds, so there was no way to get the news except second hand. Probably the worst part of all of this was the hundreds of people who came up to the marina that night to sight-see. No power, no cops, no light, no cops, and hundreds of strangers in front of your house.
posted by foozleface at 1:03 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by foozleface at 1:03 PM on October 17, 2005
I had just started my very first "real" job out of college that very week in New York City. That night, I got home and sat down to watch Game 1 of the World Series. I remember little of what happened after the initial confusing moments, as coverage on the East Coast was spotty at best. But, I vividly remember the double banner headline in the New York Times the next day: "HUNDREDS DEAD IN HUGE QUAKE". No qualifying adverbs, such as "FEARED", "SUSPECTED" OR "POSSIBLY" were used.
The final death toll was, thankfully, much lower than the Times trumpeted that day... but that was the first time I lost more than a little bit of respect for the Grey Lady, who for the first time in my recollection, had shaded into the territory of the Post with such a sensationalist and innacurate headline.
posted by psmealey at 2:38 PM on October 17, 2005
The final death toll was, thankfully, much lower than the Times trumpeted that day... but that was the first time I lost more than a little bit of respect for the Grey Lady, who for the first time in my recollection, had shaded into the territory of the Post with such a sensationalist and innacurate headline.
posted by psmealey at 2:38 PM on October 17, 2005
I was on my bicycle about a block away from my house in Oakland. I remember looking around and seeing the telephone poles swaying like twigs in the wind...
posted by falconred at 2:38 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by falconred at 2:38 PM on October 17, 2005
I was in Davis CA in High School hanging lights in the Memorial Theater for some production I can't recall right now. My friend was up on the Genie lift when we all started to feel a bit woozy like when you stand up to fast. I would have wrote it off as just casual weirdness were it not for the fact that the lights and hanging things were swaying as well.
All of us in the Theater ran outside just to be safe and noticed the water polo team in the pool getting tossed around by big waves shooting back and forth.
It wasn't until we turned on the radio and learned the quake was centered some 80-90 miles away that we realized how bad things were going to get.
posted by aaronscool at 2:41 PM on October 17, 2005
All of us in the Theater ran outside just to be safe and noticed the water polo team in the pool getting tossed around by big waves shooting back and forth.
It wasn't until we turned on the radio and learned the quake was centered some 80-90 miles away that we realized how bad things were going to get.
posted by aaronscool at 2:41 PM on October 17, 2005
I was working at a pizza joint in Portland OR, where I'd moved from Oakland a couple of years before. The boss had brought in a TV to watch the world series.
...but my friend and fellow Bay Area native was out in the middle of nowhere in Sumatra. He was eating in a restaurant housing the only television for miles in any direction. No one spoke English. He saw the Bay Bridge and Cypress Freeway collapsed, the Marina in flames, and all the bartender could say was "very very bad, many many dead."
...coverage on the East Coast was spotty at best.
It wasn't any better anywhere else, I remember hearing 600 in Portland. They probably heard the same thing in Sacramento. In fact, we were all probably watching the same broadcasts.
posted by Eothele at 2:51 PM on October 17, 2005
...but my friend and fellow Bay Area native was out in the middle of nowhere in Sumatra. He was eating in a restaurant housing the only television for miles in any direction. No one spoke English. He saw the Bay Bridge and Cypress Freeway collapsed, the Marina in flames, and all the bartender could say was "very very bad, many many dead."
...coverage on the East Coast was spotty at best.
It wasn't any better anywhere else, I remember hearing 600 in Portland. They probably heard the same thing in Sacramento. In fact, we were all probably watching the same broadcasts.
posted by Eothele at 2:51 PM on October 17, 2005
I was in my 20's, working at a mall in Salinas (very close to the epicenter in Watsonville). The power died and everyone panicked and ran for the doors. Kids got separated from parents...I walked one little girl home when we couldn't find her mommy and she was sooo scared, poor thing.
Me and my co-worker, during the quake, sat and argued about going outside or hiding under the desks (glass doors, glass walls, natch). By the time we decided what to do the shaking was over and fortunately we weren't killed. Later that evening the security guards were going from store to store in the dark, checking for gas leaks using DISPOSABLE LIGHTERS...eejits.
I'd been through plenty of earthquakes before but it had never really dawned on me that roads could collapse and people could DIE. I was freaked out enough that I was afraid to sleep in my rickety bottom-floor apartment for weeks. I hate double-decker bridges to this day. I had many friends living in Santa Cruz who never really recovered and moved away to less shakable ground.
Me, I live on the east coast now, but it's unrelated. I can't believe it's actually been 16 years! Ugh!
posted by airgirl at 2:56 PM on October 17, 2005
Me and my co-worker, during the quake, sat and argued about going outside or hiding under the desks (glass doors, glass walls, natch). By the time we decided what to do the shaking was over and fortunately we weren't killed. Later that evening the security guards were going from store to store in the dark, checking for gas leaks using DISPOSABLE LIGHTERS...eejits.
I'd been through plenty of earthquakes before but it had never really dawned on me that roads could collapse and people could DIE. I was freaked out enough that I was afraid to sleep in my rickety bottom-floor apartment for weeks. I hate double-decker bridges to this day. I had many friends living in Santa Cruz who never really recovered and moved away to less shakable ground.
Me, I live on the east coast now, but it's unrelated. I can't believe it's actually been 16 years! Ugh!
posted by airgirl at 2:56 PM on October 17, 2005
I was working in a theater in New York City, and had just sent off an application to be the lighting design intern for the next season at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. A bunch of actors watching TV in the green room during that night's rehearsal called me down and said Hey, isn't that where you want to work next year? The news was showing ACT's Geary Theater with the ceiling fallen in and the front rows of seats crushed. Very lucky it happened when it did, instead of during a performance.
I ended up getting the internship and spending the next year at ACT, doing shows in three different theaters while they decided what to do with the Geary.
posted by expialidocious at 3:05 PM on October 17, 2005
I ended up getting the internship and spending the next year at ACT, doing shows in three different theaters while they decided what to do with the Geary.
posted by expialidocious at 3:05 PM on October 17, 2005
Pissing in a field outside the US. I don't even remember this even though it obviously made news.
I remember in the early 90s there was a huge flood in Chicago. Lots of my friends talk about that and I'm without a clue. I think I've only watched Star Trek TNG in syndication. Whole period there pretty much just a blur.
posted by Smedleyman at 3:05 PM on October 17, 2005
I remember in the early 90s there was a huge flood in Chicago. Lots of my friends talk about that and I'm without a clue. I think I've only watched Star Trek TNG in syndication. Whole period there pretty much just a blur.
posted by Smedleyman at 3:05 PM on October 17, 2005
In SF in my apartment on Fulton and Stanyan watching the game. Our back stairs fell off the building.
seemed like the longest 15 seconds of my life.
Then I heard about the one that shook for 5 minutes.
posted by culberjo at 3:14 PM on October 17, 2005
seemed like the longest 15 seconds of my life.
Then I heard about the one that shook for 5 minutes.
posted by culberjo at 3:14 PM on October 17, 2005
I was watching Chris stuff french fries down Katie's bra in the Burger King in downtown Berkeley. Our booth went wobbly all of a sudden -- and the wobbles would not subside. The building had a rubber foundation (an unpopular but effective form of quake-proofing).
We ran out to the street and voiced our hopes that our school would blow up. Moments later, a large mushroon cloud appeared off in the direction of Berkeley High. We ran over there gleefully, but it was only the auto painting shop at Shattuck and Allston. The column of fire and smoke was wider, faster, and more intense than anything I had ever seen.
On the 15 bus home, everyone was wildly chatty. The most common rumor held that the entire bay bridge had collapsed into the water. It seemed plausible. Our whole lives, everyone had always insisted that something like this would happen, that it was only a matter of time.
posted by damehex at 3:16 PM on October 17, 2005
We ran out to the street and voiced our hopes that our school would blow up. Moments later, a large mushroon cloud appeared off in the direction of Berkeley High. We ran over there gleefully, but it was only the auto painting shop at Shattuck and Allston. The column of fire and smoke was wider, faster, and more intense than anything I had ever seen.
On the 15 bus home, everyone was wildly chatty. The most common rumor held that the entire bay bridge had collapsed into the water. It seemed plausible. Our whole lives, everyone had always insisted that something like this would happen, that it was only a matter of time.
posted by damehex at 3:16 PM on October 17, 2005
I was watching the pre-show for Game 3 just like most every other baseball fan. I remember being particularly excited by the Giants that year, even though I hadn't even moved out here yet. It was certainly an anti-climactic year for baseball fans.
I moved out to SF a year later, despite protestation from my mother. Like anyone else out here, it's hard not to think of it when driving on the lower half of the Bay Bridge.
What's so special about 16?
posted by mrgrimm at 3:23 PM on October 17, 2005
I moved out to SF a year later, despite protestation from my mother. Like anyone else out here, it's hard not to think of it when driving on the lower half of the Bay Bridge.
What's so special about 16?
posted by mrgrimm at 3:23 PM on October 17, 2005
I was 11, my sister 10. My family and I were in San Diego on holiday to Disneyland. The day before We said good bye to a family that was visiting from New Zealand, and was heading to San Fransisco that night.
We never got their names.
posted by joelf at 3:24 PM on October 17, 2005
We never got their names.
posted by joelf at 3:24 PM on October 17, 2005
I was at Sterling Vineyards where my roommate worked using their basket press to press off some late harvest Sauvignon Blanc for personal consumption. (It was known as the "rain year" in the Napa Valley because of the rains before harvest wreaking havoc. Good year for late harvest wines though.) I felt dizzy, and then I noticed the tanks wobbling. It definitely was a "roller" instead of a shaker up near Calistoga. My roommate and I phoned in an order for pizza, picked it up and drank red wine while we watched the news coverage on the teevee. It was interesting to see how the further away the coverage originated, the less accurate the reporting. I know this would seem to be intuitive, but you'd think places like CNN etc. would have people "on the ground" as it were. Plus, there was all the media coverage surrounding the World Series. For the power of the earthquake there was thankfully very little loss of life which to me shows the success of the building codes. The Cypress freeway hadn't been upgraded, but was scheduled for it. And yes, the removal of the Embarcadero was a wonderful thing, absolutely beautifying the city.
An interesting story of an employee in my father's office: She was driving on the lower deck of the Cypress freeway and her car's steering became erratic. Since she had just had the steering repaired, she thought it was broken again and took the next exit, and watched the freeway collapse in her rearview mirror.
posted by Eekacat at 3:27 PM on October 17, 2005
An interesting story of an employee in my father's office: She was driving on the lower deck of the Cypress freeway and her car's steering became erratic. Since she had just had the steering repaired, she thought it was broken again and took the next exit, and watched the freeway collapse in her rearview mirror.
posted by Eekacat at 3:27 PM on October 17, 2005
I was at home ~20 miles south of SF. One picture frame fell down.
posted by anarcation at 3:28 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by anarcation at 3:28 PM on October 17, 2005
I was on Market and Van Ness; had just left work 4 minutes before. A tourist was standing near me when it started and I devoted all of my energy to comforting her, so I didn't really worry about the quake too much. Since I wasn't in a building, it only felt a little bit stronger than the earthquakes we'd already had at that point.
The MUNI was down so I decided to walk home to the Castro district, and as I walked past clumps of people on the sidewalk with transistor radios, I realized from what they told me from the news reports that it was worse than I had realized. When I got home I saw that one bookshelf had gone down, and I couldn't find my cat Matilda, and I insisted on looking everywhere before I was going to lift up that bookshelf. Finally, much to my relief, I found her safely under the bed. (As many of you know, Mattie lived until May 2005.) The only thing I had that got broken was a teapot that I kind of hated.
I put the cats in their carriers and took them out to the football field of the high school behind my apartment building, where my neighbors were sitting in case of aftershock. We hung out as the sun went down, and got updates from another neighbor who was bicycling around the neighborhood. There was quite a sense of community.
posted by matildaben at 3:47 PM on October 17, 2005
The MUNI was down so I decided to walk home to the Castro district, and as I walked past clumps of people on the sidewalk with transistor radios, I realized from what they told me from the news reports that it was worse than I had realized. When I got home I saw that one bookshelf had gone down, and I couldn't find my cat Matilda, and I insisted on looking everywhere before I was going to lift up that bookshelf. Finally, much to my relief, I found her safely under the bed. (As many of you know, Mattie lived until May 2005.) The only thing I had that got broken was a teapot that I kind of hated.
I put the cats in their carriers and took them out to the football field of the high school behind my apartment building, where my neighbors were sitting in case of aftershock. We hung out as the sun went down, and got updates from another neighbor who was bicycling around the neighborhood. There was quite a sense of community.
posted by matildaben at 3:47 PM on October 17, 2005
Santa Cruz earthquake retrospective.
My brother was stationed at Alameda on the USS Enterprise, which had recently departed for Manila. His family lived in Concord, and weren't affected much. But he used to commute in to the base via the Cypress.
Some online accounts.
Looking back at Loma Prieta.
Engineering aspects of Loma Prieta.
Future risk of a 1906-style earthquake [PDF]. Estimated damages in $100-250 billion range. (The USGS estimates only a 2% chance in the next 30 years of this scenario, but a 37% chance of a 6.5-7.0 quake.)
The New Bay Bridge, a direct result of Loma Prieta.
In February 1991, demolition began with a ceremony that included fireworks and a spirited rendition of "Shake, Rattle and Roll" by a group of men in Ethel Merman drag.
Dear God, I love that.
What national TV viewers saw as the baseball feed went black.
Video montage - clips from a tape provided by an engineering group
Life Along the Faultline, an online exhibit from the Exploratorium - more video
Alas, this had to sit awhile whilst MeFi sat.
posted by dhartung at 3:57 PM on October 17, 2005 [1 favorite]
My brother was stationed at Alameda on the USS Enterprise, which had recently departed for Manila. His family lived in Concord, and weren't affected much. But he used to commute in to the base via the Cypress.
Some online accounts.
Looking back at Loma Prieta.
Engineering aspects of Loma Prieta.
Future risk of a 1906-style earthquake [PDF]. Estimated damages in $100-250 billion range. (The USGS estimates only a 2% chance in the next 30 years of this scenario, but a 37% chance of a 6.5-7.0 quake.)
The New Bay Bridge, a direct result of Loma Prieta.
In February 1991, demolition began with a ceremony that included fireworks and a spirited rendition of "Shake, Rattle and Roll" by a group of men in Ethel Merman drag.
Dear God, I love that.
What national TV viewers saw as the baseball feed went black.
Video montage - clips from a tape provided by an engineering group
Life Along the Faultline, an online exhibit from the Exploratorium - more video
Alas, this had to sit awhile whilst MeFi sat.
posted by dhartung at 3:57 PM on October 17, 2005 [1 favorite]
Learning from the earthquake: volunteers crucial in disasters - in San Francisco
Whole Earth Review, Fall, 1990 by Stewart Brand
PART ONE: THE MARINA FIRE
A little before 6 P.M. on October 17 last year, I was approached by the first uniformed policeman I'd seen amid the earthquake rubble, smoke, and chaos at Divisadero and Beach in the Marina. "You'll have to clear out," he said firmly.
"I've been working here for an hour," I told him. He veered off. .....
posted by hank at 4:03 PM on October 17, 2005
Whole Earth Review, Fall, 1990 by Stewart Brand
PART ONE: THE MARINA FIRE
A little before 6 P.M. on October 17 last year, I was approached by the first uniformed policeman I'd seen amid the earthquake rubble, smoke, and chaos at Divisadero and Beach in the Marina. "You'll have to clear out," he said firmly.
"I've been working here for an hour," I told him. He veered off. .....
posted by hank at 4:03 PM on October 17, 2005
I was in Texas at school, but when I saw accounts of people being pulled from squashed cars on the double-decker freeways, I had nightmares for weeks of being crushed like that. Gah.
Still haven't made it out to SF; I keep being sure that the Big One will hit the minute my plane touches down there...
posted by emjaybee at 4:07 PM on October 17, 2005
Still haven't made it out to SF; I keep being sure that the Big One will hit the minute my plane touches down there...
posted by emjaybee at 4:07 PM on October 17, 2005
I was on the 20th floor of a downtown San Francisco highrise, about to get on the elevator to head home and watch the game. The building shook like a willow tree in a windstorm, tossing everyone from side to side. The lights all went off. People were screaming. Eventually it stopped long enough for people to race down the stairs to the ground floor. The streets were covered with broken glass from the highrises. The people in the elevator, we later found out, were stuck there for three hours.
I made it home to Potrero Hill which was apparently built on solid rock. No damage at all. But electricity and phones were out, so with my room-mate we rode our bikes along the Embarcadero to see what was going on. People were wandering around in a daze. There was a big apartment fire up in the Marina district. One multi-story building had collapsed onto its lower floors. Lots of buildings were tilting and their garage doors had popped open. The bars along Chestnut Street, amazingly, were packed.
We found a working pay phone in the Presidio and called family. We were told the Bay Bridge and parts of Interstate 880 had collapsed.
posted by fubar at 4:11 PM on October 17, 2005
I made it home to Potrero Hill which was apparently built on solid rock. No damage at all. But electricity and phones were out, so with my room-mate we rode our bikes along the Embarcadero to see what was going on. People were wandering around in a daze. There was a big apartment fire up in the Marina district. One multi-story building had collapsed onto its lower floors. Lots of buildings were tilting and their garage doors had popped open. The bars along Chestnut Street, amazingly, were packed.
We found a working pay phone in the Presidio and called family. We were told the Bay Bridge and parts of Interstate 880 had collapsed.
posted by fubar at 4:11 PM on October 17, 2005
Tangentally, there's a book coming out in December that has the Loma Prieta earthquake as a kind of character--Tim Pratt's The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl. It's fantastic.
(Disclosure: I am not affiliated with the author or publisher, but I do review science fiction and fantasy books for a print publication and it was in my stack of books to review for the December issue. I got paid a nominal sum to read and review it, but I would have read it for free.)
As for where I was, I was 14 years old and a sophomore in high school, so I was either home watching TV or in bed--but I remember seeing the footage in the days that followed and being horrified at the bridge collapse.
posted by eilatan at 4:15 PM on October 17, 2005
(Disclosure: I am not affiliated with the author or publisher, but I do review science fiction and fantasy books for a print publication and it was in my stack of books to review for the December issue. I got paid a nominal sum to read and review it, but I would have read it for free.)
As for where I was, I was 14 years old and a sophomore in high school, so I was either home watching TV or in bed--but I remember seeing the footage in the days that followed and being horrified at the bridge collapse.
posted by eilatan at 4:15 PM on October 17, 2005
Eekacat your story reminded me that I need to add wine to my earthquake kit.
posted by culberjo at 4:49 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by culberjo at 4:49 PM on October 17, 2005
.At my parents' house in the oakland hills. I remember bolting out the downstairs sliders to stand down the hill from the house and look up - the two story wood frame house was doing, I swear to god, a hula dance.
Then the smoke from the fires, the strange quiet, the instant cameraderie, but most of all, how beautifully warm and still it was that night. Earthquake Weather.
posted by ubi at 5:01 PM on October 17, 2005
Then the smoke from the fires, the strange quiet, the instant cameraderie, but most of all, how beautifully warm and still it was that night. Earthquake Weather.
posted by ubi at 5:01 PM on October 17, 2005
drat, that's where that link went. What I get for trying to be subtle.
posted by ubi at 5:03 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by ubi at 5:03 PM on October 17, 2005
(briank:)
I watched the Marina District burn on the tube of the bar in the Uptown Cafe in Bloomington, Indiana, with a friend who was visiting his parents. He'd just moved to San Francisco from Austin.
posted by mwhybark at 5:18 PM on October 17, 2005
I watched the Marina District burn on the tube of the bar in the Uptown Cafe in Bloomington, Indiana, with a friend who was visiting his parents. He'd just moved to San Francisco from Austin.
posted by mwhybark at 5:18 PM on October 17, 2005
I was in a reinforced concrete building on the campus of UCSC, beginning my sophomore year. I was in the old Electronic Music studio working on a piece of some gawdaweful "sound sculpture" when the shaking started. I thought for a moment about jumping out of the second story window but decided---wisely---to stick it out inside.
When it stopped I thought, "that wasn't too bad." Only a few things had been shaken off shelves. I went outside into the hallway and was met by a near-panicking woman (named Becky) and we literally ran outside to the parking lot. There, we heard over a car radio the news of the extensiveness of the quake. I was quite surprised.
I was worried about my girlfriend (Nicole), who was on the Pacific Mall for her first day of work at a boutique. After quite some time and effort getting home to my downtown apartment, I saw her there in tears. She was really shaken up. Basically, the entire glass front of the store had exploded in front of her. Luckily, she was uninjured. She said told me that when she walked out onto the Mall (a street, really) she couldn't see a thing due to the dust being so thick.
The next couple of days were actually more stressful than the moments during and after the quake. The sizable aftershocks would send us running for the door frames in the middle of the night. Everything was shifted, surreal. But humor persisted: A sign for a hardware store off the freeway read, "Pre-mixed paint sale!"
For years afterward, I became wary of any building I entered, sizing up its ability to sustain shaking. The slightest vibration would make me jump. I guess that's what you'd call PTSS. I still live in the Bay Area though!
posted by tritisan at 5:24 PM on October 17, 2005
When it stopped I thought, "that wasn't too bad." Only a few things had been shaken off shelves. I went outside into the hallway and was met by a near-panicking woman (named Becky) and we literally ran outside to the parking lot. There, we heard over a car radio the news of the extensiveness of the quake. I was quite surprised.
I was worried about my girlfriend (Nicole), who was on the Pacific Mall for her first day of work at a boutique. After quite some time and effort getting home to my downtown apartment, I saw her there in tears. She was really shaken up. Basically, the entire glass front of the store had exploded in front of her. Luckily, she was uninjured. She said told me that when she walked out onto the Mall (a street, really) she couldn't see a thing due to the dust being so thick.
The next couple of days were actually more stressful than the moments during and after the quake. The sizable aftershocks would send us running for the door frames in the middle of the night. Everything was shifted, surreal. But humor persisted: A sign for a hardware store off the freeway read, "Pre-mixed paint sale!"
For years afterward, I became wary of any building I entered, sizing up its ability to sustain shaking. The slightest vibration would make me jump. I guess that's what you'd call PTSS. I still live in the Bay Area though!
posted by tritisan at 5:24 PM on October 17, 2005
I was in a Mexican restaurant on the corner of Haight and Clayton, having arrived in SF the day before for a meeting at Apple. I was staying with friends a couple blocks up Haight. The cars in the parking lot across the street were dancing together like a chorus line! I had nothing to compare it to and didn't want to be the weenie from the East who freaked out in his first little earthquake so I totally under-reacted.
Since I had a rental car, my friends and I piled in and drive around to see if anything had fallen down, and as the sun lowered we could see the glow of the Marina fire so we headed that way but didn't get close enough to see the flames. I remember how orderly the intersections were even with the stoplights off - did anyone see any traffic accidents? And the bars were giving away beer so it wouldn't go warm.
The next morning the restaurant on Haight that my friends liked for breakfast was opened by the one employee who made it in to work - a waitress - so the regular customers started cooking and clearing and we all ate royally - and read the one-sheet newpaper that they'd amazingly managed to put out - and (over)paid into a pitcher next to the cash register.
I remember quite a few of my acquaintences there weren't allowed back into the buildings they lived in because they were considered unsafe, and I remember my friend Julia getting back into hers by running past the cop at the door crying "My baby! My baby!" and coming out ten minutes later with only a packed suitcase and I think her guitar.
It was three or four days before I managed to get a phone call out to my folks to let them know I was all right. I never did have that meeting at Apple - I wonder what that might have led to.
posted by nicwolff at 5:25 PM on October 17, 2005
Since I had a rental car, my friends and I piled in and drive around to see if anything had fallen down, and as the sun lowered we could see the glow of the Marina fire so we headed that way but didn't get close enough to see the flames. I remember how orderly the intersections were even with the stoplights off - did anyone see any traffic accidents? And the bars were giving away beer so it wouldn't go warm.
The next morning the restaurant on Haight that my friends liked for breakfast was opened by the one employee who made it in to work - a waitress - so the regular customers started cooking and clearing and we all ate royally - and read the one-sheet newpaper that they'd amazingly managed to put out - and (over)paid into a pitcher next to the cash register.
I remember quite a few of my acquaintences there weren't allowed back into the buildings they lived in because they were considered unsafe, and I remember my friend Julia getting back into hers by running past the cop at the door crying "My baby! My baby!" and coming out ten minutes later with only a packed suitcase and I think her guitar.
It was three or four days before I managed to get a phone call out to my folks to let them know I was all right. I never did have that meeting at Apple - I wonder what that might have led to.
posted by nicwolff at 5:25 PM on October 17, 2005
I was a teenager watching it on TV (CNN probably?).
They showed some early helicopter footage of the collapsed freeway, which the announcer breezed past with the comment "There's a freeway showing a bit of buckling". I was all like "buckling??? That's a collapsed double-decker freeway right there!". The TV people didn't figure it out for another 20 minutes or so.
posted by jeffj at 5:28 PM on October 17, 2005
They showed some early helicopter footage of the collapsed freeway, which the announcer breezed past with the comment "There's a freeway showing a bit of buckling". I was all like "buckling??? That's a collapsed double-decker freeway right there!". The TV people didn't figure it out for another 20 minutes or so.
posted by jeffj at 5:28 PM on October 17, 2005
I read about it on Usenet, from a few people whose power was still up.
Liquefaction Maps for SF and Oakland.
posted by meehawl at 5:45 PM on October 17, 2005
Liquefaction Maps for SF and Oakland.
posted by meehawl at 5:45 PM on October 17, 2005
I was in Hollister, right off the epicenter - the earth did move - we ran outside - everything was shuttered...
posted by growabrain at 6:11 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by growabrain at 6:11 PM on October 17, 2005
I was 9 and at home in our living room in Salinas, CA when our dog started freaking out, then the entire house started shaking. We ran outside and watched our house swaying with the quake. We were lucky though, we only lost one empty canning jar
posted by mabelcolby at 6:24 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by mabelcolby at 6:24 PM on October 17, 2005
Greensboro, NC, watching the TV. Bastard Giants beat my Cubs! "I think we're having a earthqu...." static.
Then the smoke from the fires, the strange quiet, the instant camaraderie, but most of all, how beautifully warm and still it was that night. Earthquake Weather.
One of the things that still breaks my heart is seeing New Yorkers react to a beautiful day. September 11th, 2001 was a brilliant blue, cloudless day -- and that blue is seared on their souls.
posted by eriko at 6:27 PM on October 17, 2005
Then the smoke from the fires, the strange quiet, the instant camaraderie, but most of all, how beautifully warm and still it was that night. Earthquake Weather.
One of the things that still breaks my heart is seeing New Yorkers react to a beautiful day. September 11th, 2001 was a brilliant blue, cloudless day -- and that blue is seared on their souls.
posted by eriko at 6:27 PM on October 17, 2005
I was standing in Fog City Diner when the building starting shaking like hell. We all ran into the street and watched the pavement on Front Street rolling up and down like waves on the ocean. After the shaking stopped, I got on my motorcycle and headed back to my house to see if I had any damage. I lived in the Marina District. The fires you saw on tv were two blocks from my house. My apartment looked like a hell. Everything was broken and thrown all around the place.
After that I moved to an apartment just under Coit Tower.
Up on a rock.
Away from the sandy soils of the Marina.
posted by Bighappyfunhouse at 6:39 PM on October 17, 2005
After that I moved to an apartment just under Coit Tower.
Up on a rock.
Away from the sandy soils of the Marina.
posted by Bighappyfunhouse at 6:39 PM on October 17, 2005
I had moved to the Bay Area six months earlier and this was the first earthquake I had felt. There had been some minor trembles during my time but I never felt them.
I was in the shower getting ready for work. I realized what it was and decided to get out of the shower. I stood in the bathroom doorway and heard glass breaking in the kitchen and living room and watched a crack form up the bathroom wall and start across the ceiling (1st floor apartment in a 3 floor building). After what seemed like an hour it stopped ( I never believed that 15 seconds story). I had shampoo in my hair and had to rinse it with the nasty brown water that came out of the tap. I went to work (in a hospital) and spent the night listening to radio reports of the collapse and fires.
When I first moved here, I worked in Berkeley and lived in San Leandro. I took the Cypress Freeway to and from work everyday. I never knew what it was called and that night I kept hearing about the Cypress structure. Finally someone told me what it was and I realizd how many times I had driven that part of the freeway.
The thing I remember most about that was the sound. It sounded like a freight train about to crash into the room.
I have a copy of the Chronicle from 10/18/89. For perspective check out page A6 (out of 8). There is a photo and the caption reads "A woman used a cellular phone to call from a crowded bus in downtown San Francisco". You should see the size of that thing! Sixteen years ago it was newsworthy to use a cell phone on a SF bus...
posted by whatever at 7:21 PM on October 17, 2005
I was in the shower getting ready for work. I realized what it was and decided to get out of the shower. I stood in the bathroom doorway and heard glass breaking in the kitchen and living room and watched a crack form up the bathroom wall and start across the ceiling (1st floor apartment in a 3 floor building). After what seemed like an hour it stopped ( I never believed that 15 seconds story). I had shampoo in my hair and had to rinse it with the nasty brown water that came out of the tap. I went to work (in a hospital) and spent the night listening to radio reports of the collapse and fires.
When I first moved here, I worked in Berkeley and lived in San Leandro. I took the Cypress Freeway to and from work everyday. I never knew what it was called and that night I kept hearing about the Cypress structure. Finally someone told me what it was and I realizd how many times I had driven that part of the freeway.
The thing I remember most about that was the sound. It sounded like a freight train about to crash into the room.
I have a copy of the Chronicle from 10/18/89. For perspective check out page A6 (out of 8). There is a photo and the caption reads "A woman used a cellular phone to call from a crowded bus in downtown San Francisco". You should see the size of that thing! Sixteen years ago it was newsworthy to use a cell phone on a SF bus...
posted by whatever at 7:21 PM on October 17, 2005
i was in michigan watching the pre-game, wondering what else i should put on as i wasn't a baseball fan ... i saw what's on dhartung's movie link, but there was actually more after that ... the scene suddenly switched to outside the ballpark where people were whooping in a somewhat scared way ... that only lasted a few seconds, and then it went black ... a few seconds later, there was a blue abc screen and one of the announcers of the series talking over what must have been a phone line, excitedly saying that san francisco had just had a major earthquake ... after a minute, that got cut off ... and then suddenly someone switched the feed to a tv sitcom, which was surreal ... i switched around for a bit until i found that cbs had a special report screen and watched that
off-topic, but i worked night shift back in '01 and didn't find out about 9/11 until 4 in the afternoon when i booted my computer and went to yahoo
posted by pyramid termite at 8:48 PM on October 17, 2005
off-topic, but i worked night shift back in '01 and didn't find out about 9/11 until 4 in the afternoon when i booted my computer and went to yahoo
posted by pyramid termite at 8:48 PM on October 17, 2005
Then I heard about the one that shook for 5 minutes.
There was another one like that in Anchorage a couple years ago. That is a long time to have the ground shake!
posted by fshgrl at 9:59 PM on October 17, 2005
There was another one like that in Anchorage a couple years ago. That is a long time to have the ground shake!
posted by fshgrl at 9:59 PM on October 17, 2005
I had just walked home from playing free video games at the Nintendo station at Southland Mall in Hayward. My sister and I were home alone. When the quake hit she stood in the living room like a deer in headlights. I got her under our wood kitchen table.
We waited and hoped that my dad wasn't on the Cyprus freeway at the time. He used it to commute home.
Later on, while in college, I met one of my best friends who's mom was one of the people trapped in the lower deck of the Cyprus. She had a couple of broken bones.
posted by blackvectrex at 11:23 PM on October 17, 2005
We waited and hoped that my dad wasn't on the Cyprus freeway at the time. He used it to commute home.
Later on, while in college, I met one of my best friends who's mom was one of the people trapped in the lower deck of the Cyprus. She had a couple of broken bones.
posted by blackvectrex at 11:23 PM on October 17, 2005
Thanks everyone for the stories!
posted by trip and a half at 1:15 AM on October 18, 2005
posted by trip and a half at 1:15 AM on October 18, 2005
I was a salesman in a computer store in Santa Rosa (about fifty miles north of San Francisco), and we were sitting around doing our usual late-afternoon kibitz. Suddenly, I put my feet down (I usually crossed my legs) and said, "I think we're having an earthquake."
Everyone else immediately scoffed and said "No we're not, don't be silly." And then I pointed at the blinds, which were going 'thwack...thwack...thwack' against the window.
I don't remember what everyone else did, but the Boss and I went outside onto a big green lawn out front. I knew we were in no danger, because i could see that nothing could fall on us there, and really enjoyed the hell out of it. It was fun!
Santa Rosa is built on a huge, jelly-like flattish area between large hills... the ground isn't terribly solid. I could see that very easily where I was, because there were huge waves rolling through the ground. It looked exactly like one- or two-foot ocean swells, except going through ground instead of through water. I was very surprised that the concrete and asphalt bent so readily without cracking or breaking. My memory now is a bit less intense, but I'm nearly certain that the asphalt was rolling as much as the grass was. It was a very weird (and fun) experience.
My boss didn't think it was much fun, though. He was terrified. I saw another first that day, "eyes like saucers". His eyes were open so wide they looked like they'd pop straight out of his head... sort of like what you see in cartoons. I didn't know that this was a real thing until I saw the Boss... I had no idea anyone's eyes could get that big.
I didn't really get scared until later... being young (18 or 19) and impregnable, it didn't even occur to me that any of my family could be hurt (they weren't). But I was very nervous driving my motorcycle for the next few days..I feared being knocked right off my bike by an aftershock. I don't know whether that would actually happen.. the people in cars going by seemed pretty ignorant of the earthquake (which really surprised me). But it scared me, and I drove very slowly for a couple of days.
After it was all over, one of my cohorts remarked, "You know, most earthquakes happen, and you say 'wow, we just had an earthquake!' This one... you said, 'wow, we're having an earthquake. we're still having an earthquake. jesus christ, we're STILL HAVING AN EARTHQUAKE!'"
The ground shook for a very long time... maybe two minutes? It wasn't the short sharp jolt thing, it lasted a LONG long time.
And, of course, I had to rub it in a little later on.... "Boy, that was quite an earthquake we weren't having, huh?"
When I heard about the bridge collapse in Oakland, I think I was truly horrified for the first time in my life as well. A huge span of the bridge just fell down and instantly crushed something like fifty cars underneath. I had nightmares about that for several days, and even now it bothers me.
posted by Malor at 1:59 AM on October 18, 2005
Everyone else immediately scoffed and said "No we're not, don't be silly." And then I pointed at the blinds, which were going 'thwack...thwack...thwack' against the window.
I don't remember what everyone else did, but the Boss and I went outside onto a big green lawn out front. I knew we were in no danger, because i could see that nothing could fall on us there, and really enjoyed the hell out of it. It was fun!
Santa Rosa is built on a huge, jelly-like flattish area between large hills... the ground isn't terribly solid. I could see that very easily where I was, because there were huge waves rolling through the ground. It looked exactly like one- or two-foot ocean swells, except going through ground instead of through water. I was very surprised that the concrete and asphalt bent so readily without cracking or breaking. My memory now is a bit less intense, but I'm nearly certain that the asphalt was rolling as much as the grass was. It was a very weird (and fun) experience.
My boss didn't think it was much fun, though. He was terrified. I saw another first that day, "eyes like saucers". His eyes were open so wide they looked like they'd pop straight out of his head... sort of like what you see in cartoons. I didn't know that this was a real thing until I saw the Boss... I had no idea anyone's eyes could get that big.
I didn't really get scared until later... being young (18 or 19) and impregnable, it didn't even occur to me that any of my family could be hurt (they weren't). But I was very nervous driving my motorcycle for the next few days..I feared being knocked right off my bike by an aftershock. I don't know whether that would actually happen.. the people in cars going by seemed pretty ignorant of the earthquake (which really surprised me). But it scared me, and I drove very slowly for a couple of days.
After it was all over, one of my cohorts remarked, "You know, most earthquakes happen, and you say 'wow, we just had an earthquake!' This one... you said, 'wow, we're having an earthquake. we're still having an earthquake. jesus christ, we're STILL HAVING AN EARTHQUAKE!'"
The ground shook for a very long time... maybe two minutes? It wasn't the short sharp jolt thing, it lasted a LONG long time.
And, of course, I had to rub it in a little later on.... "Boy, that was quite an earthquake we weren't having, huh?"
When I heard about the bridge collapse in Oakland, I think I was truly horrified for the first time in my life as well. A huge span of the bridge just fell down and instantly crushed something like fifty cars underneath. I had nightmares about that for several days, and even now it bothers me.
posted by Malor at 1:59 AM on October 18, 2005
BTW, there is NO FREAKING WAY that earthquake only lasted fifteen seconds. Maybe it did at the source, but it lasted way more than a minute, and probably closer to two, in Santa Rosa. There was enough time to have a conversation about it, realize that it was a Real Quake, think about what to do, walk outside, watch waves rolling through the ground, watch the cars just driving past without doing anything, and watch the Boss being petrified. But it DIDN'T last long enough to get tired of it or used to it, so it probably couldn't have been three minutes.
My guess is somewhere between 1:30 and 2:00, at least where I was. It could potentially have been about a minute, but I don't think there's any way it could have been shorter than that.
posted by Malor at 2:04 AM on October 18, 2005
My guess is somewhere between 1:30 and 2:00, at least where I was. It could potentially have been about a minute, but I don't think there's any way it could have been shorter than that.
posted by Malor at 2:04 AM on October 18, 2005
chiming in pretty late in the game, but i enjoyed reading all the comments so much, i gotta contribute.
i was in san diego, had just turned on the tv to watch the world series when it went to static.
i thought my crappy old tv had finally died! but when i flipped to the other channels, i realized the tv as fine... then the "emergency news breaks" began. i remember letting out a yelp of fear, yelling at the television because i was really scared. being from san diego, i had a lot of friends who'd moved to the bay area - as did many of my SD friends. right away i tried calling a close friend who lived south of market, but couldn't get through. so i called his sister in san diego and told her about the quake. it took days to find out if people were ok. (his neighborhood was hit pretty hard; the apartment building he lived in sustained so much damage it later had to be demolished.)
the thing that sticks with me most about that quake was how hard it was to get information: the phone lines were all messed up and calls between south and north cali just would not go through. over the next week, the way word got from the bay area to the southland was via the east cost - people would call relatives on the east coast, and then they would call the news down to san diego. definitely a "last century" kind of thing...
after the quake, there were articles and public service announcements that after an earthquake, one should survey their neighborhood and replace all payphone handsets jolted out of their cradles, as excessive open lines could jam telephone service. that doesn't seem to matter so much anymore, with all the mobile technology - it's pretty hard to find a payphone these days. the comparisons to 9/11 are interesting in that context, too - even with the limited phone service, i knew my friends in new york were ok within hours, if not minutes. everyone seems to be online these days and information is mind-blowingly immediate.
oh, and yeah - having been through a lot of earthquakes, i gotta agree they often seem much longer than reported. for me, i think it's because the SOUND of the quake lasts longer. there's nothing quite like that noise...
i live in san francisco now, and was thinking on the quake all yesterday. it was cool to read everyone's recollections. thanks.
posted by lapolla at 9:04 AM on October 18, 2005
i was in san diego, had just turned on the tv to watch the world series when it went to static.
i thought my crappy old tv had finally died! but when i flipped to the other channels, i realized the tv as fine... then the "emergency news breaks" began. i remember letting out a yelp of fear, yelling at the television because i was really scared. being from san diego, i had a lot of friends who'd moved to the bay area - as did many of my SD friends. right away i tried calling a close friend who lived south of market, but couldn't get through. so i called his sister in san diego and told her about the quake. it took days to find out if people were ok. (his neighborhood was hit pretty hard; the apartment building he lived in sustained so much damage it later had to be demolished.)
the thing that sticks with me most about that quake was how hard it was to get information: the phone lines were all messed up and calls between south and north cali just would not go through. over the next week, the way word got from the bay area to the southland was via the east cost - people would call relatives on the east coast, and then they would call the news down to san diego. definitely a "last century" kind of thing...
after the quake, there were articles and public service announcements that after an earthquake, one should survey their neighborhood and replace all payphone handsets jolted out of their cradles, as excessive open lines could jam telephone service. that doesn't seem to matter so much anymore, with all the mobile technology - it's pretty hard to find a payphone these days. the comparisons to 9/11 are interesting in that context, too - even with the limited phone service, i knew my friends in new york were ok within hours, if not minutes. everyone seems to be online these days and information is mind-blowingly immediate.
oh, and yeah - having been through a lot of earthquakes, i gotta agree they often seem much longer than reported. for me, i think it's because the SOUND of the quake lasts longer. there's nothing quite like that noise...
i live in san francisco now, and was thinking on the quake all yesterday. it was cool to read everyone's recollections. thanks.
posted by lapolla at 9:04 AM on October 18, 2005
I'd just stood up to watch the game and was sure I'd just stood up too quickly until things in the house started to bang around.
I remember that night listening to Live 105 and the DJ telling everybody to be cool and "not to do anything stupid", watching haggard-looking anchors in their off-air attire try to provide coverage on the collapsed Cypress, burning buildings and the mashup on the Bay Bridge, including that horrific footage of the guy shooting the gap.
I've always been of the opinion that the World Series protected a lot of people -- the cross-bay series meant that most folks had cut out of work early to catch the game rather than sitting in traffic under collapsing structures.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 7:51 PM on October 18, 2005
I remember that night listening to Live 105 and the DJ telling everybody to be cool and "not to do anything stupid", watching haggard-looking anchors in their off-air attire try to provide coverage on the collapsed Cypress, burning buildings and the mashup on the Bay Bridge, including that horrific footage of the guy shooting the gap.
I've always been of the opinion that the World Series protected a lot of people -- the cross-bay series meant that most folks had cut out of work early to catch the game rather than sitting in traffic under collapsing structures.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 7:51 PM on October 18, 2005
I was 6 years old when Loma Prieta happened. I was walking up a steep road back to my house from a friend's house. The first thing I noticed was the front doors of all the houses shaking like there was a caged animal banging against them. Then I fell down...
posted by TunnelArmr at 8:40 AM on October 19, 2005
posted by TunnelArmr at 8:40 AM on October 19, 2005
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Finally, this series of articles gives an idea of how those unforgettable 15 seconds shaped San Francisco into the City she is today.
posted by trip and a half at 11:41 AM on October 17, 2005