30 years later...

[Silas_Sancona]

Not sure how I'd forgotten about it but an article released on the subject today reminded me of one of the craziest events I have witnessed / experienced thus far in my time on this planet.  30 years ago, I was sitting in the house going thru my backpack while awaiting the start of the World Series.  Mom was at work up in Redwood City, sister was at her job several miles from the house.

Little would I know that in just a couple minutes, the movement of ground just a few miles south of me, up in the Santa Cruz Mountains would unleash chaos, or that the start of that game would become an iconic moment, both in the sports world, but in history.  I remember sitting there watching tv and thinking our neighbor had dropped something. ( we lived in a duplex at the time ) Then, of course, the sounds of.. and feeling of the house shaking and the power going out. Was late afternoon so still light out. Once the shaking stopped, I looked over at my fish tank as I headed outside. Somehow it stayed put though the fish knocked their heater into the tank in the chaos. 

Coming outside, the only sound filling the air were countless car alarms. Traffic on both sides of out street were stopped. Could see people get out of their cars, thinking they'd gotten a flat, but quickly realizing what was going on. Telephone lines above swinging like jump ropes.  First order of business was checking on the elderly couple next door. Husband, a big plant fanatic, was a year into his fight with Parkinson's disease.  Next, check on the neighbors who ran a day care. As I went to check on them, as they stood outside their house, I'd witness something I'd never imagined as one of the bigger aftershocks rolled across the area. You often hear accounts of the ground moving like waves on a pond during a quake but, until you see it happen, that just doesn't seem believable.. it is, trust me. Very weird feeling seeing these " waves" move across the landscape,  especially one that isn't flat. And again, telephone poles / lines swaying back and forth in a fashion that seems impossible.. 

It wouldn't be until later that evening when the power came back on that the true impact of this Earthquake would be realized.. the fires, the collapsed freeway, ..the fissures detected up in the mountains.. absolutely crazy, especially considering I know all these areas well, have hiked within a mile of the epicenter, and passed over it numerous times while visiting some friends who lived between Loma Prieta and Mt Madonna up off the unpaved section of Summit road at the time, and after the quake. 

I'd always thought witnessing a tornado / being near or in one would be more intense, it wasnt.. or that watching the railing of my apartment balcony accumulate ice, in the middle of an intense electrical storm, before transitioning into a major snow storm, and glazing everything in several inches of ice as it moved east would be the weirdest natural phenomenon I'd experience, nope.. 

That afternoon, on October 17th, 1989, takes the cake as the erriest thing I have experienced.  It was your typical  sunny, warm and calm October afternoon that day, and yet the lives of everyone living in the Bay Area back then would be changed in an instant. Seemed odd since it was those hot, humid days in July or August when remnant monsoonal or tropical moisture would bring a shower, or just a couple days of good cloud watching many in San Jose dubbed as " Earthquake Weather days " Somewhat belevible since a couple smaller quakes, one that threw me out of my bed, occurred on such days.    And while my house, and the part of town i lived in suffered very little damage, distant sirens, or news helicopters passing over remind that the worst of the quakes damage wasnt far away. Unlike most other weather related things, you never know when the ground below will decide it wants to move Los Angeles a hair closer to San Francisco..

Luckily, 30 years later, there is at least the opportunity for people across California to have a few seconds of warning before the ground shakes below their feet. Important sure, but perhaps a bit more important in light of what was discussed in the article released today.  Pretty interesting how far Earthquake research has come, yet has to go in that time.. 

For anyone else here who is still ..or was in the Bay Area back then, share your experiences..   and Happy Anniversary. 

[kinzyjr]

@Silas_Sancona Thank you for sharing the story!  Back in those days, I would have been out playing American football with all of my friends from school and trying to figure out which houses were going to give out the best candy come trick or treat time.

[Palmarum]

I remember watching the aftermath on the news like it was yesterday. We were watching the news at school instead of doing anything else, just sitting and staring at the tv's in silence. It was the first 'watched' disaster for most of us kids in S. Florida. Kept staring at that pancaked freeway.

 

[mdsonofthesouth]

I remember watching it on the news as a kid. Wild stuff! Thanks for sharing.

[Silas_Sancona]

11 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

@Silas_Sancona Thank you for sharing the story!  Back in those days, I would have been out playing American football with all of my friends from school and trying to figure out which houses were going to give out the best candy come trick or treat time.

Lol, used to do the same thing.. That particular neighborhood was surrounded by " wealthier " developments, particularly when I was in high school when some of the  bigger homes started being built.  When out on Haloween, you had to decide which areas to hit up for the big candy bars or handfulls of candy, vs just getting one or two. .. Homes up the road in Almaden, or up the hill behind us.

Funny story,  my cousins and one of my uncles used to take their dirt bikes up the same hill where some of the biggest houses in the Blossom Hill / Harwood area ( my old neighborhood ) were built when I'd started high school.  Friends and I used to go up there  as the houses were being built to skate the pool being put in. What I assume was / is the living room space is bigger than half the house I'm in atm. Entry drive of that home, and another super mansion just above it are lined with big Canary Island Palms as well.  Also used to take short hikes on the same property before that. Top of Harwood road is also a notorious spot for engaging in after dark " teen age " antics.  Has been since my mom was in school.  Steep hill was a great spot for attempting to skate ( not me, lol )  luge ( some friends in high school made their own sled ) or ..tossing bowling balls down. No comment. lol..  

Of all the houses everyone in high school wanted to check out on Haloween, the homes up there were the holy grail. There were rumors one year one of the home owners  handed out not only king sized candy bars, but like $10 or 20 bucks. That's about as "Silicon Valley" as it gets. 

[Silas_Sancona]

12 hours ago, Palmarum said:

I remember watching the aftermath on the news like it was yesterday. We were watching the news at school instead of doing anything else, just sitting and staring at the tv's in silence. It was the first 'watched' disaster for most of us kids in S. Florida. Kept staring at that pancaked freeway.

 

I hear ya,  it's weird how clearly someone can recall such events, but, for example, details of what happened the next day or two after the quake are somewhat fuzzy..  Don't even recall whether or not I'd gone over to my grandparents house to check on them. Their house is around the corner from where I lived. 

On my first trip thru Florida, I remember listening to stories about Hurricane Andrew while picking out Plumeria at a growers nursery in Homestead.  Remember looking around thinking, on top of what the hurricane likely did to all these plants and the nursery itself,  how could anyone endure X number of days w/ out power, little/ no water, or food..  possibly cut off from the rest of the world ( probably less so now since that area has been built up more. ) Power of nature is both fascinating, and something to be respected..  and something you never forget. 

[Palmarum]

30 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

I hear ya,  it's weird how clearly someone can recall such events, but, for example, details of what happened the next day or two after the quake are somewhat fuzzy..  Don't even recall whether or not I'd gone over to my grandparents house to check on them. Their house is around the corner from where I lived. 

On my first trip thru Florida, I remember listening to stories about Hurricane Andrew while picking out Plumeria at a growers nursery in Homestead.  Remember looking around thinking, on top of what the hurricane likely did to all these plants and the nursery itself,  how could anyone endure X number of days w/ out power, little/ no water, or food..  possibly cut off from the rest of the world ( probably less so now since that area has been built up more. ) Power of nature is both fascinating, and something to be respected..  and something you never forget. 

Same thing happens a lot with people in stressful situations that happen suddenly and without warning. Hurricane Andrew was our test and adventure, less than three years after the San Francisco earthquake. I can't remember much of the duration of the storm, but I can remember the aftermath, the clean-up and the 5 weeks without power, etc. I have never been through or 'in' an earthquake, but still would rather take a 'cane than a 'quake. At least you know when one is coming.

Ryan

[PalmatierMeg]

Fascinating chronicle. I remember watching tv news about it when we lived in Alexandria VA. Horrifying footage. My kinfolk all hail from NO CAL and my mother's cousin lives in downtown SF. Fortunately, she was okay and her apt. suffered no damage but I'm sure my mother in Fairfax, VA was in a panic before she found out.

[Silas_Sancona]

5 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Fascinating chronicle. I remember watching tv news about it when we lived in Alexandria VA. Horrifying footage. My kinfolk all hail from NO CAL and my mother's cousin lives in downtown SF. Fortunately, she was okay and her apt. suffered no damage but I'm sure my mother in Fairfax, VA was in a panic before she found out.

I can only imagine.. All the relatives living in Hawaii or other parts of the state were trying to call my grandparents / other relatives living in San Jose that day.  Remember, this was several years before cell phones came about. Heck, those were the days only "cool people"  carried pagers, lol.

Hospital in Redwood City where my mom worked is a 7 story building. Luckily, the lab she worked in was on the first floor..  I remember her saying how patients and doctors were rushing down from the upper floors trying to get out. Took her 3 hours to get home that afternoon. Freeways were closed for a couple days afterwards. 

Between the two, yea.. I can agree that being in a hurricane might be the better option, but, with hurricanes, there's a better chance you'll see several big ones, vs. experiencing back to back big earthquakes the size of Loma Prieta, among other bigger quakes in CA. Where you live in the state,  in one's lifetime.  One storm the size of Andrew, Maria, or Irma in 60- 100 years is enough.. Real opportunity of experiencing  2 or 3 storms of similar size/ strength in that time would constantly hang around in the back of my mind.  Not likely, but possible. Regardless of which one would be worse, both can be life changing events. 

To be honest, if a quake is smaller than a 5.0, chances you won't feel it, or it might feel like a large truck passing in front of your home for a few seconds. The worry afterwards, at least for a couple days, is whether or not it was it's own event, or a fore shock.    

[PalmatierMeg]

Many years ago my mother's cousin in SF sent her an article from the San Francisco Chronicle that took a poll of readers. Topic was:

"Which event would you rather go through: a major earthquake or a major hurricane?"

90% of responders chose - Major Earthquake - and expressed existential horror of facing a hurricane.

My mother and I laughed our socks off. She was familiar with earthquakes because she grew up in NO CAL. But she'd lived in NO VA since 1948 and was no stranger to hurricanes, most notably the infamous Hurricanes Hazel in 1954 and Agnes in 1972. I'm an East Coast brat and know hurricanes, esp. after moving to SWFL in 1993, but I have no experience with earthquakes, which, frankly, give me the heebie-jeebies when I read about one. My husband rejected living in my kinfolks' beloved CA because he existentially feared earthquakes.

I suppose this poll comparing oranges and apples just shows people choose the devil they know vs the devil they don't.

[bubba]

Very interesting. Florida has earthquakes also. Nothing like that!

[Silas_Sancona]

2 hours ago, bubba said:

Very interesting. Florida has earthquakes also. Nothing like that!

For sure, ofcourse, Florida has sink holes though lol.. Arizona also has quakes, though not often as CA or the Pac. Northwest. That said, there have been some pretty big ones, in parts of the state you'd not expect.  Think the biggest was a 7.8 in Douglas, sometime in the late 1800s/ early 1900s. We also have ground fissures that open up from time to time during, or after certain weather conditions ( ..very wet Monsoon season for example) Crazy thing about those is you might be living on top of one and never know it. State is getting better at mapping where they exist but, like earthquake science,  has a long way to go until perfected.