20 years ago today
Twenty years ago this evening, the 6.9 Magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake ripped through the San Francisco Bay area.
From the
San Francisco Chronicle:
Loma Prieta survivors' transforming moments
Seldom have 15 seconds wrought so much for so many. By the time the 6.9-magnitude shaking ended at 5:04 p.m. on Oct. 17, 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake had transformed the lives of thousands of people throughout the Bay Area.
Some became heroes. Some were damaged deep in their psyches, while others were spurred to make the world safer for next time. Here are some of their stories.
I was living in Seattle at that time and had been out for ten days on my sailboat. I had just tied up at my pier, taken a shower and walked over to a local bar that had good food planning to eat a nice dinner.
The place was very narrow -- door was in one corner of the building and the television set was to one side of the door facing into the bar. As I walked in, I saw that everyone's face was glued to the screen. I knew the World Series was on and was wondering why everyone was so intent on the game. I turned and watched, with everyone else, the footage of the freeway taken from some helicopter. Wow...
Posted by DaveH at October 17, 2009 6:22 PM