Today is the 18th anniversary of the Loma Prieta Earthquake in the SF Bay Area

[bluestateguy]

Was it really that long ago?

I was 13, watching the pre-game of the 1989 World Series, at home alone when I felt the ground underneath me begin to shake. I then saw my bookshelf shaking and said out loud "Uh, I think we're having an earthquake". Then I realized that I was home alone. My mother had gone to the grocery store to get food for dinner and my father was at work--on BART actually, in the transbay tube when the shaking took place.

I ran into the living room where our dogs had puzzled looks on their faces and the dining room chandelier was swinging violently. I actually was not that scared during the quake. It was after I started to learn that the damage was extensive and my father had left work early that I began to get very nervous.

My family came through the quake unharmed, but to this day I have always been afraid of earthquakes.

[BootinUp]

1. I lived in SoCal

until I was 25, left in '87. Never experienced a big one. I used to pooh pooh the quake experts. Then I saw what happened in 89 and 91 from a distance. That was some serious shit.

[Suich]

2. I never heard anything about the people on BART under the bay...

did your dad feel anything?

:)

[bluestateguy]

3. Oh yes he felt it, but BART was fine

He was in the tube, and as he described it to me, there was near panic on the train. He said the lights flickered on and off, and the train stopped in the middle of the tube for several minutes. The conductor came on the air and said in a calm, librarian voice "We've just experienced a minor earth tremor," and apologized for the delay.

[Mrs. Overall]

4. I was in Berkeley at the time, in the third story of an old wooden house--

the entire house creaked and shook from side to side as car alarms began sounding along the street. From the window, I could see the Marina fire in SF and also the dust and debris rising in the air from the Oakland freeway collapse. I'll never forget that evening.

[daninthemoon]

5. My sister was in the mall in Santa Cruz 1/2 hour before the quake.

The mall collapsed. Santa Cruz was very close to the epicenter. My sister absolutely hates earthquakes now. I used to kind of like them when I lived out there, but I only experienced the fun kind. I even felt a small one here in Oklahoma a few years ago. Thing I wonder about California: WHEN the big one hits, if the aquaducts suffer numerous breaks, there could be some unimaginable problems.

[Annces]

6. I was driving in the city

The ground was rolling around. Then there were people running around acting lawless. I was glad when I made it out of the city.

[Imagevision]

7. I was on the canal in San Rafael after falling to the ground I drove to the

Marin side of the Golden gate bridge to see San Francisco on fire with no cars coming out of San Fran, only traffic going into the city.

[alittlelark]

8. I was on the phone w/ sis in NM while getting ready for work.

All of a sudden my cat, Tara, yowled and ran out the screen door. I was laughing w/ sis about what my cat had just done when the CD holders started sliding out of the drawers. I slipped sideways and watched hundreds of CD's come out of their drawers and hit the wall (it looked like a card trick). The 50 gallon fish tank jumped up twice and dumped out 15 or so gallons of H2O and 3 fish. It calmed down... I scooped the fish back into the tank. lots of aftershocks - still on the phone w/ sis who had turned on the TV and told me what was happening.

I went outside looking for my cat. The old E. Indian lady from downstairs (lived w/ her son and his wife) came out of her apt. w/ a pipe and a smile. Things were already sooo surreal that it seemed normal. She had the strangest laugh. The guy upstairs across from us (AF Capt. at Moffet Field) came downstairs - the whites of his eyes were HUGE. He was a really nice guy from Georgia. The old E. Indian woman was laughing and offered him the pipe. He took it (I don't think he smoked it... I went back to looking for Tara).

A kid in the Apt swimming pool was hurt when he got tossed out of the pool - sprained ankle.


It was an unforgettable day... I could type on for hours.