From the article: Where Were You for Loma Prieta?
Memories fade, people move away or die, and gradually the experience of a major earthquake evaporates. Keep awareness alive for the San Francisco Bay area and share your story from the Loma Prieta earthquake. Share Your Experience
Skyline in Oakland
- I was typing in the den of my home on Skyline Blvd - Snake and Shepherd Canyon - a downslope lot. The house had been built to earthquake standards just three years before. I heard a thunderous sound coming from the north. Suddenly, the whole house rose up as if on the crest of a wave, and a few things fell off the bookshelves behind me. I gripped the walls of the corridor between the den and front door as the whole house rode the waves...eucalyptus swayed like barley stalks in a breeze. I ran up the steps to the road...a jogger was running by, seemingly unaware. Oh, I had forgotten the dog, Bouba...I ran back down the steps, into the house, and there, Bouba, who used to sleep under the bed, was struggling up the stairs from the lower floor...I grabbed her and fled. Later, I went back, turned on the TV. It didn't work...and the after-shocks began...I fled outside again... My brother went with his ski-patrol ropes etc. to help rescue people from the collapsed freeway.
- —Guest Berkeley Student
In Palo Alto
- I was sitting at home with my mom, watching the pre game show for the World Series, and waiting for my dad to come home on the Caltrain from San Francisco, where he worked. Coincidentally, I had just watched a pretty comprehensive TV show about earthquake preparedness from the LA County Fire department on PBS, and I got my mom to go into the hall, where we rode out the quake. Our house shook like it never had before, or has since. Here, we ended up with a big crack in our driveway, abut that's about it.
- —ComradeKevin
I love baseball....
- I was recovering from injuries while in the Army at Letterman Army Medical Center, and had the fortune of getting 2nd deck seats at The Stick. I was still moving a little bit slowly after surgery, and found the impetus to run for my life when the upper deck above us was swaying very gently. My buddy and I decided to leave.
- —Manty01Actual
where i was on oct 17 1989
- i was a 14 year old freshman at gonzales high school in gonzales ca about 45 min east of monterey. we were on the football field practicing when i heard a rumbling and then the swaying started. after it was over there was a weird silence. as if someone had hit the mute button. then chaos as dogs howled and people came running out of there houses. when i got to my street everyone was outside their homes. it was the weirdest night of my life. up to that point anyway.
- —Guest isaac bailon
Bay Bridge
- On an AC Transit bus on the Bay bridge when hearing noise of rattling steel and seeing people running out of their cars like they seen Godzilla!
- —Guest John P. Osten
Never be without a front door key...
- I was at my job in East San Jose that afternoon. When the rolling started I hit save on my Apple IIe computer just before the power went off. It was several days before I could tell how much information was saved. Most importantly I learned one lesson. Always have a house key with you. Friend were watching grandchildren and had only taken their garage door opener when they went out. Once the power was off, they couldn't get back into the house to answer the frantic phone calls from the out-of-town parents. Now I make sure I always have a house key!
- —Guest Karen Hokanson
Earthquake??
- I was just getting on Highway 880 in Oakland. I felt a good size bump, and thought it was just another pothole. Driving up Highway 880 I saw a lot of cars pulled over to the side with the drivers out looking at their tires? Strange? I turned the radio to the World Series game only to find out there had been an earthquake. The largest earthquake in 80 years and I missed it! Later that night I drove over the highway maze in Oakland, a 3-4 level maze of highway overpasses. The next night I tried to drive the same route only to find the road closed. It was closed only to check for damage, but it would have been nice it CalTrans had closed the road and checked it the night of the earthquake before I drove over it!
- —sjkac1
On the Bay Bridge
- This happened to a close friend. She was on the Bay Bridge, driving from SF to Kensington when the earthquake struck. She was almost to the section where the bridge collapsed. She pulled her car to the side and a short time later, the Highway Patrol arrived and told everyone -- via bullhorns -- to turn their cars around and head to Angel Island. On Angel Island, she met someone with a cellphone -- not all that common in those days. She was able to call her daughter and let her know she was okay. She eventually had to drive home around the Bay and it took her over 8 hours because all the traffic lights were out. She said she felt blessed. If she hadn't been 5 minutes late getting out of her office, she might have been one of the ones who went off the bridge.
- —Guest Susan H
Mary Pablo
- Me and my gf were taking sexy pictures out on a jetty in Mill Valley. I don't know if the jetty absorbed the shake up or what but we didn't feel anything.
- —Guest Mary Pablo
Navy Instructor & Security Detail Leader
- I had just walked in the door (we lived in Novato) when the quake hit. The P wave knocked my wife off the counter (she was on the phone). You could see the S waves travel thru our house, was scary! I was transported by helicopter to my platoon where we readied to deploy to Oakland Navy Shipyard for security patrols. That never happened, we were flown back to Mare Island & told to go home & stand by. My wife had been watching the TV & was very worried by the coverage of the fires. She didn't want me in the middle of that doing security & was very angry the Navy was doing security "instead of the Army!" She was just scared & venting. All in all, it was an experience we will never forget!
- —Guest DSC M.
Daniel Freeman Hospital, Inglewood, CA
- I drove to the hospital to pick up my son who had just had knee surgery. An avid baseball fan, I was listening to the radio to catch the baseball World Series game. When I was walking my son out, I stopped suddenly and looked over my shoulder to the north. There was a funny orange glow to the north. And I felt a strange feeling. My son asked me what was wrong. "Something very bad just happened somewhere" I told him. We got in my truck and I started the truck. The radio came on and the sportscasters were detailing the news of the earthquake. My son and I looked at each other. To my knowledge, no one else in the LA area felt anything!
- —Guest Margaret Stevens
Batter Up.......
- I was sitting on the floor in front of our TV with my father in Sacramento. We felt the roll and watched the window blinds sway to and fro. I was 5 at the time and got an interesting geology lesson.
- —Guest Mark
Polk St
- I was waiting for Chinese takeout when the quake hit. I remained on my feet, holding a table, but the rolling must have been violent because the next morning all the muscles in my legs were strained. It was strange -- during the actual quake, it was as if I heard no sounds. But when the pitching stopped, I realized I had heard the big vats in the kitchen crashing off the stoves. I ran back, terrified that the cooks had been scalded. They'd managed to get clear, thank God. We went outside and all along Polk St car alarms were going off. I was elated because we were alive, but one of the young restaurant workers was very shaken. I walked home to Nob Hill -- every one was in the streets and power was out. I turned my walkman radio on and the DJ was saying, "Well, that was a nice dose of Bay Area stress." Not long after we started to smell the Marina burning.
- —jwan0jwan
Loma Prieta experience
- I blogged about my fairly modest experience at: http://geotripper.blogspot.com/2009/10/has-it-been-that-long-already-loma.html
- —Guest Garry Hayes
So far away....
- My husband and I (both Bay Area natives) were driving near Steamboat Springs, CO and trying to listen to the World Series - the only station we could get was from New Mexico. It kept fading in and out and all we caught was that something was terribly wrong. I said "earthquake" and my husband poo-pooed me. But, sure enough! We drove to the closest hotel and our only requirements were a phone and a TV (roaches OK). We were so frustrated because we couldn't call in and people covering for the networks knew nothing about Bay Area geography. They had the freeway collapse on the wrong side of the Bay! We spent a sleepless night and finally got through to my husband's family the next morning. We zoomed home and coming across the Sunol Grade we had no idea what we'd see. Thankfully, we only had a few things broken in our house and our families were all OK !! I will never forget feeling so helpless !!
- —Guest BonnieB
