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| Aftermath of the Loma Prieta earthquake |
On October 17th, 1989, a powerful and destructive 6.9 magnitude earthquake that was caused by a slip along the San Andreas fault struck the San Francisco Bay Area. This disaster, often referred to as the San Francisco-Oakland earthquake or Loma Prieta earthquake (as it was centered near Loma Prieta Peak in Santa Cruz), is recorded as the strongest earthquake to have strike the area since 1906.
The timing of the earthquake could not have been worse; on the day of the event, the Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants, both local baseball teams in the Bay Area, were competing head to head in the World Series. At 5:04 PM, twenty-six minutes before Game 3 began, the earthquake struck the Bay Area, lasting for approximately 10 to 15 seconds. During this timeframe, the earthquake left the area and its inhabitants with major casualties. This disaster affected communities throughout Alameda, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Monterey, but Oakland and San Francisco suffered the most severe damage. The earthquake displaced between 3,000 and 12,000 people and caused 63 fatalities as well as over 3,700 injuries. In addition to the sustained injuries and fatalities, the earthquake had massive consequences on the area’s infrastructure.
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| Thousands of spectators were "shook" by the unexpected quake |
In Oakland, a double deck portion of Cypress Street Viaduct, a multi-lane freeway collapsed, pulverizing the cars below. The collapse of the freeway accounted for 42 of the deaths. A 50-foot-long section of San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge also collapsed leading to one fatality.
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| Destruction of Interstate 880 after the earthquake |
The Marina District in San Francisco was especially affected, as the District was originally marshland that was filled with rubble from the 1906 earthquake. The liquefaction of the Marina amplified the seismic waves of the quake, resulting in many of the buildings to buckle and sink, as well as rupture gas lines, sparking multiple fires. The total damage of the Loma Prieta earthquake was estimated to be approximately $6-10 billion US Dollars.
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Before and after newer safety codes for buildings in the Marina!
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After the earthquake, "the city has never been quite the same since then" (Caroline, 1989 earthquake survivor), and perhaps that is for the better. A year after the Loma Prieta earthquake, there has been more research regarding earthquakes in the Bay Area; a panel of scientists reassessed the earthquake threat to the area, and they project a probability of 2 in 3 for one or more destructive earthquakes to hit the Bay between 1990 and 2020.
Due to frequent earthquakes, as the San Andreas fault runs along the Bay Area, more focus has been placed towards earthquake safety. Newer and safer structural designs for buildings have been implemented, and California has also been more adamant about teaching locals about earthquake safety and proper building codes to help withstand against any future earthquakes such as this devastating event.
- Lew, H S. “Performance of Structures During the Loma Prieta Earthquake of October 17, 1989.” National Institute of Standards and Technology, nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/SP/nistspecialpublication778.pdf.
- Thompson, Kristy D. “Earthquake Loma Prieta California 1989.” NIST, 6 Jan. 2017, www.nist.gov/el/earthquake-loma-prieta-california-1989.
- Barron, James. “EARTHQUAKE IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA; VIOLENT QUAKE HITS NORTHERN CALIFORNIA; HUNDREDS DEAD; DISASTER SCOPE UNCLEAR; HIGHWAY AND BAY BRIDGE'S DECK COLLAPSE.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 Oct. 1989, www.nytimes.com/1989/10/18/us/earthquake-northern-california-violent-quake-hits-northern-california-hundreds.html.
- “BBC ON THIS DAY | 17 | 1989: San Francisco Earthquake Survivors.” BBC News, BBC, 17 Oct. 1989, news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/witness/october/17/newsid_3191000/3191744.stm.
- Velasquez, Miriam. “Photos: The 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, a Look Back.” Daily News, Daily News, 16 Oct. 2017, www.dailynews.com/2017/10/16/photos-the-1989-loma-prieta-earthquake-a-look-back/.
Thank you for this awesome write up. I have a question about a hypothetical situation so it might be tough to answer. How much do you think the earthquake affecting the World Series had to do with how quickly more research poured into earthquake safety, and if the quake had more seriously affected the World Series game (damage to the field, injury to a spectator or player) do you think more widespread reform would have been seen?
ReplyDeleteNice blog! I'm curious about how safe those in the stadium were. I imagine the people on the field were in a pretty good spot (presuming there were no overhead structures), but did the stands/bleachers (and the people in them) sustain any damage during the earthquake?
ReplyDeleteJessica- awesome blog post! I remember visiting the Marina District with myuncle when I was a kid and he explained to me that it was all infilled land. That area has some pretty tousity things going on so I wonder if that has ever or will ever have an effect on the casualties or injuries from a earthquake. I wonder this because the tourists who are there probably know less about earthquake safety than locals and they are in a more risky zone.
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