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Recalling the Big Rumble of 1989
By Sunny Lockwood
The corner of Beach and Divisadero Streets in San Francisco’s Marina District.
[photo courtesy of J.K. Nakata, U.S. Geologic Survey]
October 2009 marks 20 years since California’s Loma Prieta earthquake killed 63 people, crumpled a section of double-decker freeway and collapsed part of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge
.
 
Collapsed building in San Francisco’s Marina District.
[photos courtesy of C.E. Meyer, U.S. Geological Survey]
Side view of support column failure and collapse of the upper deck of the CypressStreet Viaduct.
 
Pancaked upper deck of the Cypress Street Viaduct. The guardrail at right was onthe lower deck.
[photo courtesy of H.G. Wilshire, U.S. Geologic Survey]
Copyright 2009 Merikay McleodAll Rights ReservedFirst electronic printing, October, 2009
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deleted_fbuser_1329213987

It is trully sad to see everything just vanish right before your eyes. Years of hard labour, comes tumbling down in just a few moments. To see the spirit of those affected by this tragedy rise up to rebuild what was brought down is trully amazing...

reply06 / 27 / 2011
Luddite

There is a lot of courage in people's hearts...Thank you so m uch for the comment!

06 / 27 / 2011
BarbaraAlfaro

Sunny, Congratulations on being featured! This is journalism at its best. Thanks for posting. Love the old man's comment at the end.

reply04 / 19 / 2011
Luddite

Thank you, Barbara. I didn't realize this was featured. Thanks for informing me. So glad you like the piece!

04 / 21 / 2011
Luddite

Time to repost this earthquake memory piece....hope you enjoy it, even though the experience itself was pretty scary...

reply04 / 19 / 2011
Jed Diamond, Ph.D.

Sunny, The Giants win in the Series shows us that unexpected "good things" can happen when least expected. The game 20 years ago when the Earthquake struck reminds us that we live in Earthquake country and building houses on land-fill isn't the best way for humanity to live with nature.

reply11 / 05 / 2010
Luddite

You are so right, Jed!

11 / 08 / 2010
jwr1947

Funny world! Reading the title "The Big Rumble of October 1989" I thought of the Opening of the Berlin Wall (which in fact opened 9th of November 1989, but preparations started in October). Maybe it took a few days for the wave to travel to Berlin and crumble the Wall as well...

reply08 / 04 / 2010
Luddite

Great comment! Yes...1989 was quite a year. The Loma Prieta Earthquake in October. The fall of the Berlin Wall in November. The Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia in November and December. (BTW, I have a document for sale here on Scribd all about the Velvet Revolution told by the people who took part. It's called "Living the Velvet Revolution." Thanks so much for your read and your comment.

08 / 04 / 2010
Suzanne de Cornelia

We lived in SF. My son was IN THE MARINA at Wells Fargo on Union Street!! I was down in Santa Barbara. He called, 'MOM! There's been a horrible earthquake. Buildings are down and on fire! The bridge is down! I have to go! Am using the bank phone and others are waiting in line!' Click. We were cut off and couldn't connect again for 3-days. He saw a dead baby being brought out of a home in the Marin

reply08 / 04 / 2010
Luddite

Oh, Suzanne and Laura, I love this conversation! All our earthquake memories blending here on Scribd. Thank you both for adding so much to this page!

08 / 04 / 2010
LauraNovak

Yes, and I was one of those stunned residents of the Marina who fell over onto the curb b/c the aftershocks were SO strong. A dying woman trapped. Bldgs open like doll houses. The fire starting. It was awful.

08 / 04 / 2010
Suzanne de Cornelia

..in the Marina, and red-tagged homes pulled down as the owners sat on the curb across the street--stunned. A reminder that life can change in a heartbeat.

08 / 04 / 2010
DanielEssman

Remember Gary Webb, who won a Pulitzer for his Loma Prieta coverage, but later was professionally blacklisted for revealing CIA collusion with Nicaraguan Contra cocaine smugglers. Webb was driven to suicide. So when I remember the quake and that concrete abbattoir in Oakland, I also make it a point of honor to toast Gary Webb, his honesty...his fall from grace.

reply08 / 03 / 2010
Luddite

It's been more than a year for these intelligent, caring and informative comments...please forgive me for not replying sooner. Can't believe I missed them. Thank you both -- Daniel and Suzanne -- for stopping by and sharing your insights. How excellent!

04 / 21 / 2011
DanielEssman

yes...he had enemies...right wing apparatchiks....cocaine cartels...dis-patriated contras...the cia...the whole lawless backstabbers named in the iran/contra disaster...so maybe not suicide...RIP....truly...

08 / 04 / 2010
Suzanne de Cornelia

He didn't fall from grace for those of us who believed him. Maybe suicide. Maybe not. The CIA is rather adept at 'suiciding' people. He was one of the good guys. RIP.

08 / 04 / 2010
DanielEssman

Thank you Luddite, A wonderful memoir...

reply08 / 03 / 2010
Luddite

Thank you, Daniel! So much!

08 / 04 / 2010
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