Posted on 10/17/2024 3:21:49 PM PDT by old school
"For many Bay Area residents who lived through it, the Loma Prieta earthquake was an unforgettable moment.
The magnitude 6.9 temblor killed 63 people, 42 of them on the Cypress Freeway in Oakland when a large section of it collapsed. The quake injured 3,757 people and caused billions of dollars in damage. Dozens of buildings were destroyed in Santa Cruz, about 10 miles from the quake’s epicenter. A portion of the Bay Bridge collapsed, and in San Francisco, a fire broke out in the Marina district and several buildings collapsed. Approximately 16,000 homes were left uninhabitable.
Game 3 of the World Series between the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants was about to begin when the shaking started at 5:04 p.m. The series then was delayed for 10 days, and the A’s claimed the championship in a four-game sweep on Oct. 28."
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
ABC World Series coverage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8ExMR0c0aM
Al Michaels was always cool as a cucumber.
Funny how it coincided with the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Bump
Post hoc ergo propter hoc?
I recall the news coverage of the earthquake. Some of the people on the major networks did not know that Oakland was on the other side of the bay from San Francisco.
There was one dramatic case of a man who was trapped in his car under a collapsed bit of freeway in the East Bay. For several days it wasn't known if the rescuers would be able to get him out. Finally they did and there was a big sigh of relief. But there was much less attention to the news that the man died a few weeks later from his injuries.
What were the odds though it would happen right at the time of a World Series Game between the two Bay Area teams?
Of course, not even an earthquake was going to stop the A’s that season.
If it hadn’t been for the World Series, people wouldn’t have taken-off from work, early, to attend the game. And, hundreds more would have been in the commute on that “Cypress Freeway!”
And the earthquake wasn’t even there. It was in the Santa Cruz area, 70 miles away from the Bay Area non-maintained infrastructure.
Very true. Traffic was much lighter than normal because of the game.
I was watching the game on T.V., 26 Miles away and the quake jolted me out of my seat!
I was approx 60 miles away, as the crow flies and shook moderately for about eight seconds. The aluminum street light poles swayed like the car antennas. Unbelievable energy release...But the Alaska 1964 quake, approx 9.2, was felt in Seattle... 1200 miles away.
I agree! It was a hell of an energy release!
I was in a two story Apple building in Cupertino. When it started I decided to run down a central stairway which led to a courtyard and then to the back parking lot. It took both hands on the railings to stay upright on the stairs. Later in the middle of the parking lot it took complete attention to stay on your feet. You could see waves in the asphalt coming at you. It took hours for most people to get home but I commuted by bike so I passed all the traffic. Nothing unusual at home except the pool was missing two feet of water.
I was there.
There was the major earthquake in 1906 in San Francisco but it didn't impact the World Series because (1) the quake was in April and (2) there were no major league teams west of St. Louis at the time.
Oh, MY! My brother and I were in his furnished basement, getting ready for game 2. We lived halfway between San Francisco and Santa Cruz. We even still had television rabbit ears antenna. The rabbit ears began to move. While my brother and I were standing up, we were not moving enough to make the antenna move. I motioned for my brother to join me in the door jam. As the earthquake became more powerful, I had my hands on the door jam. When the big wave came through, the house was yanked out of my hands. We ran out into the back yard, and safety. While the epicenter was in the Santa Cruz mountains, specifically Loma Prieta, the energy spread out. Some of the worst damage was in a very nice SF area, The Marina District. The bridge and freeway damage was intense. When things calmed down, we walked around our neighborhood to see if anyone needed help. There was this level of dust in the air, as if someone had made the Earth jump up and down.
It was an unusually warm day (Earthquake Weather) and a breeze was blowing.
So, I had my front screen-door open.
My two boys were upstairs and when the quake hit, they flew down the stairs (figuratively speaking) and out the front door with me close behind!
It was comical but not.
kind of a bad year for everything, iirc.
“”There was one dramatic case of a man who was trapped in his car under a collapsed bit of freeway in the East Bay. For several days it wasn’t known if the rescuers would be able to get him out. Finally they did and there was a big sigh of relief. But there was much less attention to the news that the man died a few weeks later from his injuries.””
There was so much coverage of it in CA that I have trouble remembering all of it but I do remember a man being trapped between two collapsed lanes of highway or bridge...I thought that he had to have an arm or leg amputated to free him??? Can never forget the pictures of the Bay Bridge collapsing and the highway on the Oakland side...
I remember an old friend saying that he drove that highway every day when he was in college in San Jose State - engineering student - and he said he told everyone that the highway was in big trouble some day if they didn’t do something about the way it was constructed.
I believed him. He was the kind of guy who actually used a ruler to make perfect pie crusts...
My relatives in Santa Barbara felt this earthquake.
My brother-in-law was on the freeway and pulled over, he thought he had a flat tire - lots of other people pulled over and said they also thought they had flat tires.
I remember seeing images of the collapsed Cypress Freeway in Oakland, thought the road had just broken up - until my husband told me it was a double decker road that had collapsed, trapping drivers underneath. Very sad.
To this day, I am nervous crossing the Bay Bridge and breathe a sigh of relief when we’ve crossed it.
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