The 1989 World Series matchup could not have been more ominous. The Oakland Athletics versus the San Francisco Giants. All eyes were on the Bay Area. Minutes before Game 3 of the series aired on ABC, on October 17 at 5:04 p.m., it struck. You could hear sportscaster Al Michaels shout, "I'll tell you what — we're having an earth—" just moments before the signal began to break. Viewers around the world tuning in caught the first moments of the 6.9 tremor that changed the Bay Area forever.
The Loma Prieta Quake, named after the mountain peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains near where it was centered, claimed 63 lives and over 3,700 injuries. It liquefied parts of Watsonville; turned downtown Santa Cruz into rubble; caused the upper level of the old Oakland Bay Bridge to collapse (this harrowing footage of a car falling into the gap was repeatedly played on newscasts for months after); and toppled buildings in the city's Marina District. As the fires following the quake dotted San Francisco, the city banded together.
San Francisco native and Loma Prieta survivor Melanie Brooks, who was 13-years-old at the time, tells us what happened that day.
"I was at a friend's house in the Haight, which was super sketchy at the time, and it took me forever to get home to Bernal Heights because my normal bus route was all electric, and therefore out of service," says Brooks. "But what I saw on my way home was San Francisco totally rallying and coming together. People gave me food, change for the pay phone, one lady walked with me, way out of her way, to make sure that I wasn't walking home alone."
She goes on to detail how everyone stepped up to direct traffic during the long blackout and how a group of neighbors banded together to help an old lady find her cats.
"To the world, it seemed like the city just fell into the Bay," she adds. "But on the inside, her ein the city, it felt like community togetherness."
A few facts about Loma Prieta:
- The Bay Bridge reopened to traffic in only a month.
- The quake resulted in the closure and demolition of the elevated (and rather ugly) Embarcadero Freeway along the waterfront .
- Ferry service between Oakland and San Francisco, which had ended decades prior, started again in order to relief BART trains congested due to the bridge closure. (The quake alone prompted more popularity in ferry service on the bay.)
- There was an episode about it on Full House! In an episode called "Aftershock," Stephanie suffers major PTSD over it, worried that another quake would kill her dad and this leaving her an orphan.
- A made-for-TV movie called After The Shock (1990) about the disaster's aftermath featured The Golden Girls' Rue McClanahan as a victim trapped under the Bay Bridge.
Loma Prieta caused an estimated $6 billion in damage, and was the strongest shakers to hit the Bay Area since the Great Quake of 1906. Today, it serves as a very, very serious reminder to get your earthquake kits prepared. That's right, not just one emergency kit, but TWO — one for work, one for home. To find out more about preparing your own kit, visit SF72.org for more details. (We're not kidding; get your kits today.)
As for letting loved ones know you're okay, Facebook announced a new app that does just that. "Safety Check is our way of helping our community during natural disasters and gives you an easy and simple way to say you’re safe and check on all your friends and family in one place," said Mark Zuckerberg during Wednesday's announcement.
And finally, the New York Times teamed up with Retro Report up to create this documentary video of the 1989 earthquake. A must-see for anyone living in the Bay Area. Because the next big one is coming. It will hit hard and without much warning. Are you prepared?
