Kent State University
It was October 17, 1989 at 5:00 in the afternoon and San Francisco’s Candlestick Park was packed to the brim. More than 62,000 people were there to watch the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants play the third game in the 1989 baseball world series. It was almost time for the game to start at 5:04 when the ground began to shake. The quake was swift and violent lasting between 15 and 20 seconds, rattling the fans but leaving them all unharmed. The game was postponed for ten days and the series was later given the nickname of the “earthquake series”.
The San Francisco earthquake, also known as Loma Prieta, was a major natural hazard for the residents of California. According to …show more content…
The earthquake also caused damage through liquefaction in some areas, where the ground temporarily achieves a quicksand like consistency during movement. Loma Prieta completely destroyed 963 homes and damaged 18,306 (Borkar, 2014). Similarly, 147 businesses were destroyed and an additional 2,575 businesses were damaged (Borkar, 2014). Many highways and bridges were also destroyed, congesting the roads for over a month. The total cost of the destruction is estimated to be over $6 billion. Multiple organizations and efforts come forward to assist in disaster relief and recovery. Some of the efforts include FEMA, OES, and Measure E. Measure E was a sales tax brought forward by the community. In the end, 12,053 people were displaced, 3,757 people were injured, and 63 people were killed (Borkar, 2014). Many of the old structures that easily crumbled were replaced with advanced and up-to-date earthquake protection methods. Loma Prieta served as a reminder for the residents that the California fault line is a deadly and important feature that needs to be carefully monitored. According to national geographic, this was just a dress rehearsal and an even larger quake is to come in the near