Loma Prieta earthquake remembrances hope to ready California for next big one
Minh Pham
Issue date: 10/15/09 Section: News
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"There could have been so much more damage and injuries," said geology Professor Ellen Metzger, who was on campus in Duncan Hall when the '89 earthquake happened.
"I was on the second floor, and the ground shook so violently, anybody who wasn't holding on to something fell to the ground," Metzger said. "I had just moved from the East Coast so it was the first earthquake I had ever felt. It was frightening."
SJSU's campus received no major structural damages to any buildings, major injuries or deaths in the reported 7.0 magnitude quake, said Richard Sedlock, chair of the geology department.
The majority of the damage occured in the San Francisco area about 60 miles from Loma Prieta, he said.
"I was five years old, and I remember being on the stairs when the earthquake happened," senior biology major Diana Tran said. "San Francisco houses are usually small, and so everything in my house was stacked up high. I was lucky I was actually on the stairs, away from all the bookcases and dressers."
A staff member at the Student Services Center and alumna Angelica Ochoa said she remembers the earthquake differently.
"I remember being eight years old and standing outside, waiting to be picked up from my aunt's house," Ochoa said. "All of a sudden it was raining leaves and cars were bouncing on the streets. I was completely mesmerized by what was happening. I thought the falling leaves were beautiful. It wasn't till after the shaking stopped did I realize what had happened."
A fault line map shows that San Jose is located between the San Andreas and Hayward fault system. Faults are the fractures in rock formation underground and are caused by shifts in the earth's crust, Metzger said.
When the Loma Prieta earthquake hit, the majority of its energy deflected on major underground rock layers and was directed towards San Francisco, Sedlock said.
A total of 67 people died from the earthquake, according to the Vibration Data Web site.
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