Loma Prieta earthquake 32 years since the deadly earthquake.

15-seconds that transformed SF.

A San Francisco Bay area earthquake measuring 7.1 in magnitude, killed 67 and injured over 3,000. Over 100,000 buildings damaged or destroyed. (Oct. 17, 1989) 

I remember this day as if it were yesterday. I was talking to my wife (she was at home about 5-miles away) and during our conversation she yelled out, “Earthquake!” I replied, “Not over here”, then a minute later my work building started bouncing and the ceiling came down. From the second floor of my building, I jumped down the stairway and I ran out the front door. When everything settled down since I was management I put on a helmet and reentered the building looking for anyone trapped in the building. 

On my drive home over the Dumbarton Bridge, (Menlo Park to Newark/Fremont, California) I saw three KGO radio antenna towers laying in the Bay. What an eerie feeling. 

Damage:

Five people were killed on Sixth Street between Bluxome and Townsend in San Francisco as a brick facade collapsed onto the sidewalk and street.

Major property damage in San Francisco’s Marina District 60 mi (97 km) from the epicenter resulted from liquefaction of soil used to create waterfront land. Other effects included sand volcanoes, landslides and ground ruptures. Some 12,000 homes and 2,600 businesses were damaged.

In Santa Cruz, close to the epicenter, 40 buildings collapsed, killing six people. 

An estimated 1.4 million people lost power following the quake, mainly due to damaged electrical substations.

Power was restored to most of San Francisco by midnight, and all but 12,000 customers had their power restored within two days.

The quake caused an estimated $6 billion (equivalent to $13 billion today) in property damage, becoming one of the most expensive natural disasters in U.S. history at the time.