Reply To: Where were you in the '89 earthquake? (from original forum archive)
I was on the phone at Travel Advisors of Marin, and as my office chair was on rollers, I was sent scooting across the floor. We all ran to the doorway, and one co-worker yelled out from the ladies' room "EARTHQUAKE! Don't let me die in the WC!" If we hadn't been so scared, it would have been funny! Then I had a call from a client, who was calling from the Seattle aiport to ask about her son, who was sitting in the Coliseum watching the World Series, she was worried, and then we lost the ability to call out. My husband called me later to tell me that he had gone over the Cyprus overstructure just before the collapse..!!!
Reply To: Where were you in the '89 earthquake? (from original forum archive)
I was behind the retail counter at Deming's Marin Tire and Brake. The customer went up then down and then the airlines blew. My brand new Chevy Astro van was on the alignment rack over a pit so I ran to it, shoved it into reverse and drove it out of the building. When I got out, I realized that I parked it directly under the power lines that were still swaying back and forth.
on the pedestrian bridge behind the gelato shop in San Anselmo at the hub. Talking to a kid on a skateboard. Bam! 20 seconds of watching the shop windows down the street bow in and out. Crazy.
on the little pedestrian bridge behind the gelato shop in San Anselmo at the hub. Talking to a kid on a skateboard. Bam! 20 seconds of watching the shop windows on the street bow in and out. crazy.
I was out in West Marin that afternoon and was on a tall ladder putting up fans for a musician named Jesse Colin Young. All of a sudden the fans started to swing and the china and nick-knacks all started to dance, my ladder toppled over, I landed on my feet and ran outside. The large fir trees were literally scooting side to side, not just swaying. Some fell over. The phone was dead and I noticed the radio was silent. The World Series was on that day and all you could here was an occasional click, and at one point some technician came on air and told every one to stop broadcasting, as the antennas had fallen up in Novato. Distant Radio stations were still broadcasting and one from Eureka was reporting a collapse of the Bay Bridge and fires all over San Fransisco. The phones went dead.
At that time I was living in Beavercreek, OH. Late in the afternoon my mother called from Corte Madera and said there had just been a terrible earthquake and she wanted to let me know that she and her home were fine. However, she knew phone lines would be down/jammed and wanted to let me know before that happened. Sure enough, I could not get through to her for days. I am thankful she called immediately. It was sickening watching all the devastation on TV. My heart was there. I saved newspapers and magazines from the event.
I was living in an in-law unit in San Anselmo at the time. I was working for the County at the Civic Center, and had left early to deliver some informational pamphlets to an agency near 3rd and G is San Rafael. As I exited the freeway and came to the stop at Mission and Heatherton the car seemed to bump around more than usual on the street which was full of pot holes. The FM station I was listening to went off the air. As I stopped, I thought "they better fix this road" and punched in an AM station. The announcer was saying "...not sure if the game will continue." I wondered why they would stop the game. Then he said there had just been a large earthquake. When I got to the agency, they were all hyper, chattering rapidly. Did you feel it, Did you feel it? I had to say no, I thought it was just the bumpy road. But that night I refused to sleep in my bed which was right on the opposite side of the wall to a brick fireplace. I slept on the floor at the far end of the living room.
I was sitting on the floor of my livingroom, in San Rafael, sewing sequins on a halloween costume. My girlfriend Jacky was standing in my front doorway and had just taken a huge hit of a joint when the quake started. It was like a roller coaster. We were looking at each other and at the pool in the backyard, which was almost level with the window of my basement apartment. The water was starting to slosh out, towards us. Without losing the hit she was holding in, my friend said..,"It's the big one!" And then the TV went to static and all other channels were dead. It was scary. Some days later we went to SF and drove through the Marina district where a lot of homes were pancaked and cars were flattened. It was surreal.
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-- Edited by JasonLewis on Sunday 20th of October 2013 10:10:55 AM
I was in the basement of an old house in Larkspur clipping buds. I watched the full sized joists handle the load very well, and I heard some construction workers across the canyon yell " Earthquake " . I sure hope none of them were up on a scaffold or ladder, talk about vertigo. After a few minutes I figured I'd better get back to work, fer the people are going to need the buds to help them calm down. Carry on Muchachos.
At work. MarinStat, on Miller Ave., Mill Valley, A block up from The Duece ( Two AM Club). In the darkroom. The floor shook pretty good, the light fixtures were swinging around. Really didn't think much about it at first, then I saw all the buildings along Miller emptying and everyone running into the street. Had the radio on, Giants and A's, World Series(!), so I heard the pandemonium from Candlestick. It took awhile for the magnitude to sink in, and be fully realized. Marina in flames, Bay Bridge deck, Cyprus Structure, etc. About an hour and a half later, I was sittin' on the can, and a big aftershock hit. At first I figured it was the burrito from Cactus Cafe I had for lunch (silly gringo...). That shook me up like real good. One thing that amazed me was, from my perspective working in the graphic-arts biz, the SF Examiner put out a bull-dog extra THAT VERY NITE! With a skeleton crew and comparatively crude computer equiptment. Gotta remember that in '89, this was very cutting edge. I still have copies. "EXTRA" screamed the headline, "Marina in Flames" under that. Lots of pictures.
Sitting in my car at the stop light on drake in front of Red Hill shopping center. Thought someone hit me. Looked back no one there. Something wrong with the engine, car shaking? Turned off radio to listen to engine. OK. Then noticed telephone poles and light poles and stuff moving!! EARTH QUAKE!! And I knew it was a big one.
I had just gotten into my car on Miller Avenue leaving work.
As soon as I started the car it started shaking and I was sure my co-worker was messing with me and hiding, but then I saw a giant awning that connected the two buildings shaking and I knew. A bicyclist saw it also and stopped. He said he didn't feel it riding but wondered why the 2AM Club just had people pouring out screaming. He thought the Giants had scored already.
Of course I was worried about my daughter who I was going to pick up at the Ron (?blank) after school sports program at Neil Cummins. And of course she was ok and it was not a big deal for her.
I'm explanding on the comment I left on the 4th street post, so that others will share their stories of being in Marin during this crisis:
I vividly remember La Petite Boulangerie's location because I was working there when the '89 earthquake hit! I was a senior at SRHS, so it was an after school job. I recall the floor actually rippling (we were practically below ground), the baskets shaking, the radio going fuzzy, the customers racing upstairs, and my boss shouting at me to get the H$%& out!
It was so surreal to have everyone suddenly clustered together on the street corner actually talking to one another (some were still drinking coffee and reading newspapers). The big news was hearing that the Bay Bridge collapsed. It was just so incredible and tragic. However, there was no damage to the apartment where my family lived and no one I knew in Marin had been hurt or had their property destroyed.
