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Where were you 30 years ago? (1 Viewer)

CurlyNight

Footballguy
After the recent earthquakes this week in the Bay Area, I thought I'd post a where were you when the Loma Prieta quake struck. I was living in Seattle at that time worried about my relatives here for a couple days until they could check in. Heard some wild stories though. 

Been here since 92 and have only experienced jolts, shakers and rolls. I'm sure I just jinxed us here. 😮

 
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Cincinnati Ohio being a broke college kid and I would have just started my internship at a Life Insurance company then.  I do remember getting home, turning on the news and watching everything unfold, it was pretty surreal.

 
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After the recent earthquakes this week in the Bay Area, I thought I'd post a where were you when the Loma Prieta quake struck. I was living in Seattle at that time worried about my relatives here for a couple days until they could check in. Heard some wild stories though. 

Been here since 92 and have only experienced jolts, shakers and rolls. I'm sure I just jinxed us here. 😮
I'm really hoping the "Big One" isn't coming since I'm heading out to SF next week.  I'm already starting to worry about it irrationally.  

But 30 years ago, I was rushing home from basketball practice so I could watch the game.  I was a huge Bash Brothers fan and was excited to watch the game.  In the car with my dad, we kept searching on the radio for the game, but could only get news reports.  Had no idea an earthquake hit but so we kept turning the dials to try and find the game.  It wasn't until I got home and turned the TV on that we realized what happened.  As a kid, I can remember wondering how long the game would be delayed because I couldn't stay up all night.  Then the images of the city started coming in and it hit me.  

I've always been a weather nerd, but I was kind of clueless on what earthquakes were.  My only knowledge was really from Superman.  After seeing the damage, I remember being totally obsessed with learning as much as I could about them.  

 
I'm really hoping the "Big One" isn't coming since I'm heading out to SF next week.  I'm already starting to worry about it irrationally.  

But 30 years ago, I was rushing home from basketball practice so I could watch the game.  I was a huge Bash Brothers fan and was excited to watch the game.  In the car with my dad, we kept searching on the radio for the game, but could only get news reports.  Had no idea an earthquake hit but so we kept turning the dials to try and find the game.  It wasn't until I got home and turned the TV on that we realized what happened.  As a kid, I can remember wondering how long the game would be delayed because I couldn't stay up all night.  Then the images of the city started coming in and it hit me.  

I've always been a weather nerd, but I was kind of clueless on what earthquakes were.  My only knowledge was really from Superman.  After seeing the damage, I remember being totally obsessed with learning as much as I could about them.  
At least you're going to the only city here that didn't get pge shut off alerts. So no worries there. Our new normal includes pge shutting power off to help prevent fires rather than replacing their 20th century equipment. 🙄

 
At least you're going to the only city here that didn't get pge shut off alerts. So no worries there. Our new normal includes pge shutting power off to help prevent fires rather than replacing their 20th century equipment. 🙄
I'll be in Morgan Hill.  I have no idea what to expect.  I was out there as a kid sightseeing in the city.  And then one other time working at the airport for a week.  So I've never left the city limits.

 
I was at CYO basketball practice in Fremont CA. I remember i was practicing free throws (and mad i was missing the World Series) and the hoop i was trying to shoot at just started shaking left and right and i got dizzy.  My Mom showed up 15 minutes later to get me and said part of  the Bay Bridge collapsed. I was 8 years old. Crazy~

 
4 weeks out from Hurricane Hugo and enjoying having electricity ... and watching the news about the earthquake.

 
I was nearing the midpoint of my semester abroad in Toledo, Spain. Was finally starting to get the hang of things at that point.

 
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I was a 6th grader in Missouri.  I wasn't watching the World Series (Cubs fan at the time, so I was upset about the Giants beating them), so I heard about it at school the next day.

 
I was at CYO basketball practice in Fremont CA. I remember i was practicing free throws (and mad i was missing the World Series) and the hoop i was trying to shoot at just started shaking left and right and i got dizzy.  My Mom showed up 15 minutes later to get me and said part of  the Bay Bridge collapsed. I was 8 years old. Crazy~
Watching it on tv was terrifying. I couldn't turn it off. I remember my cousin was going to be going over the Bay Bridge for a meeting but didn't know what time. 

 
Watching it on tv was terrifying. I couldn't turn it off. I remember my cousin was going to be going over the Bay Bridge for a meeting but didn't know what time. 
I was too young to be scared, I was more like "what the heck?" but that's probably a good thing. Luckily our house only had a bunch of stuff fall off shelves.

 
https://earthquaketrack.com/us-ca-morgan-hill/recent

This is the usual though around here. In all the years I've been here I've never had anything fall.
Same here, and I've been in The Bay since 1997.  Hell I missed this week's as I had just fallen asleep and it didn't wake me, although apparently the dog wasn't too stoked that someone was obviously trying to get in the house by shaking the whole thing.

As for '89, I didn't watch baseball usually but my cousin from Bay Area was visiting us in Portland so we had turned it on.  My dad's whole family lived (and still does) in Northern California, so the rest of the evening was spent trying to get ahold of people on the phone.  Everyone was safe and sound, although apparently my uncle came out of the Caldecott Tunnel to find cars all over the place on 24 and traffic just stopping.

 
I was in section 53, upper deck at Candlestick waiting for the game to start.  At first I thought the person behind me was kicking my seat.  I turned around and looked up and the top edge of the stadium was moving like a wave and my initial thought was we would see how well the stadium was built.  After it was over we went to the concourse and were just hanging out with everyone else.  We heard the Bay Bridge collapsed and decided it was bad and that there was no way they would play the game so we bolted right then.  Got out to the far dirt parking lot, took the back roads to 280 and headed south to my house in Cupertino.  There were a few buckles in the freeway, like speed bumps.  We got home fairly quickly.  Those who did not leave the game right away were stuck for hours trying to get out.

 
We were living in the Mission district of SF at the time.  I came home from work early to watch the game and was adjusting the TV antenna when it started shaking.  The force of the quake didn't surprise me as much as its duration--it seemed like it would never stop.  The only casualty in our house was a coffee pot that fell off a shelf but houses two blocks down Shotwell St. were total losses because of soil liquefaction.  Our local pub stayed open and we drank free warming beer by candlelight that evening.

The earthquake turned out to be a great career move for me.  The building housing my employer's data center took heavy damage so we had to pull off an emergency relo of equipment and personnel by the following Monday.  I was new to a supervisory role at the time but was given a lot of responsibility by my manager and ended up getting promoted to his position when he retired shortly afterwards.  I doubt that would have happened if not for the high profile role following the the earthquake.

 
Working at an inbound telemarketing job while going to school.  Callers started talking about an earthquake at the WS.    Had to watch the news after I got off work at 11.

 
What was the neighborhood like then?

I had friends that lived in the Mission circus 1989 and it was pretty rough.  I think it was like Shotwell and 18th or so.  
Small world.  We were on Shotwell between 19th and 20th.

I guess it was more dangerous than it is now but it was much also more affordable and livable.  I never got mugged or felt unsafe--the biggest problem was the hookers from Capp St. turning tricks in our driveway.

There were a lot of Latino families in the neighborhood which created a niche for small businesses like grocery stores, produce markets, shoe repair, etc. to cater to them.  Both got priced out by the first dot com boom which accelerated gentrification and the replacement of light industrial and artists space with apartment complexes.

 
Small world.  We were on Shotwell between 19th and 20th.

I guess it was more dangerous than it is now but it was much also more affordable and livable.  I never got mugged or felt unsafe--the biggest problem was the hookers from Capp St. turning tricks in our driveway.

There were a lot of Latino families in the neighborhood which created a niche for small businesses like grocery stores, produce markets, shoe repair, etc. to cater to them.  Both got priced out by the first dot com boom which accelerated gentrification and the replacement of light industrial and artists space with apartment complexes.
Heh.

I went to visit a couple of times.  It wasn't exactly a war-zone for sure.  I do remember two guys having a fight outside some sort of burrito place in broad daylight...they were both using their belts as melee weapons.  

 
I was in section 53, upper deck at Candlestick waiting for the game to start.  At first I thought the person behind me was kicking my seat.  I turned around and looked up and the top edge of the stadium was moving like a wave and my initial thought was we would see how well the stadium was built.  After it was over we went to the concourse and were just hanging out with everyone else.  We heard the Bay Bridge collapsed and decided it was bad and that there was no way they would play the game so we bolted right then.  Got out to the far dirt parking lot, took the back roads to 280 and headed south to my house in Cupertino.  There were a few buckles in the freeway, like speed bumps.  We got home fairly quickly.  Those who did not leave the game right away were stuck for hours trying to get out.
Yikes.

I was watching on TV I think.  I may have just seen replays on the news, not sure.

And yo, what's up... also in Huntington Beach.   :thumbup:

 
7th grader in Oakland.  At the time of the earthquake, I was underneath my dresser which had fallen on top of me.  

 
I was 10 living in Denver.  Used to go down to Colorado springs and stalk this model and her loser BF all the time!  :whistle:

 
8th grader in Alameda doing homework (easiest assignment ever: 25-words or less book report).  I was mad because I had CYO practice at 7pm and was bummed that it was going to be cancelled.  Also, mad because I didn't get to see my A's beat up on the Giants that night. 

 
I was at CYO basketball practice in Fremont CA. I remember i was practicing free throws (and mad i was missing the World Series) and the hoop i was trying to shoot at just started shaking left and right and i got dizzy.  My Mom showed up 15 minutes later to get me and said part of  the Bay Bridge collapsed. I was 8 years old. Crazy~
Holy Spirit?

 
Living at my parents house and totally dependent on them- it was a tough time. Nobody would hire me for a job even if I had the slightest desire to find one. I was going to school but just some general level classes, nothing specific as I had no clue what to do with my life. Honestly, if it wasn't for my parents then, I might not be here today. 

 
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In Guam, drinking a Steinlager and staring at a beautiful sunset over the Pacific.

ETA: Guam was '88.  1989 I was in Groton, CT,  probably eating a meatball grinder. Stumbled across a band playing on the radio called Paisley Jungle.  That was the day I became a level-11 music snob.

 
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Just got one of those EMERGENCY ALERTS on my phone.  "TEST SF Wireless Emergency Alert test. 30 yrs since 89 quake. Prepare at www.SF72.org TEST"

Gee thanks

 
Just got one of those EMERGENCY ALERTS on my phone.  "TEST SF Wireless Emergency Alert test. 30 yrs since 89 quake. Prepare at www.SF72.org TEST"

Gee thanks
At least they care about SF to test it. The rest of us will find out probably after it hits. 

 
I was in college, at a CD store in NYC when I heard the security guard and another guy talking about "the big one" and how the Golden gate bridge had fallen into the ocean. I sprinted home to call my parents in Sausalito...my mom acted surprised that is bothered to call. "Oh...yeah...I guess we had an earthquake..yes". I was watching the news while talking and saw all the repeated shots of fires (in the marina, which she would've been able to see from her house), the Bay bridge, and various collapsed buildings. Even explaining all of that, I couldnt get her to accept that it had been "the big one". I was far more freaked out 3k miles away than she ever was.

My dad was reffing a HS soccer game in Mill valley. He said he heard the sound of houses shaking in the hills coming towards the field (unrecognizable actual source until he thought about it later...like a train) and then the field truned to liquid waves, throwing players around to the ground.

 

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