Oct. 17, 1989, 5:04 p.m. (dial-up warning)

[Oeditpus Rex]

I'll never, ever, forget it.









http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/1989_10_18.php

[bertha katzenengel]

1. I won't either - but I wasn't there. Were you?

[Oeditpus Rex]

4. I was about 30 miles SSE of the epicenter

and away from the direction of the fault. We had moderate damage — broken windows, bricks falling from older buildings, cracks in walls. No power nor water for about 36 hours.

We fared far, far better than others.

[bertha katzenengel]

7. thank the gods you weren't in the Marina district

:scared:

My worst one was Northridge. Was this the worst one for you? Worst = scariest.

[Oeditpus Rex]

10. Oh, yeah

By a long shot.

Only time I ever ran out of the house during a quake. Then I knelt down on the grass and watched the house shake back and forth.

I remember thinking, "My god, this is the Big One!"

[bertha katzenengel]

11. Yep.

Damn. Kind of a kiss your ass goodbye moment.

In the Northridge quake, I turned on my light and sat up in bed and watched all four corners of my bedroom move independently of each other. Scariest shit of my life.

Would you believe, though, that I miss CA so much I wouldn't even mind the earthquakes?

[Oeditpus Rex]

12. Yup

They're so few and far between, especially the big ones. I'd lot rather have 'em than tornadoes or hurricanes. :scared:

And I know just where you wanna move to.

[bertha katzenengel]

14. Gee. How EVER could you know that?

Heh heh heh.

Going home in Nov. for my brother's BD! :bounce:

[Oeditpus Rex]

15. Well, I don't know specifically

What section would you like to live in? :shrug:

[bertha katzenengel]

18. I'll take 412, front row on the aisle, please.

:7

I caught a foul ball once, sitting in the club level (the dark blue section). Chili Davis fouled it off -- NOLAN RYAN pitched it. That ball won't leave my possession until I die.

[Oeditpus Rex]

22. Third base side?

:scared:

Oh, wait — is the Angels' dugout on that side? The Dodgers do that, too.

[bertha katzenengel]

24. Yep. It's weird to go to an Orioles' game -- they're on the first base

side.

[Oeditpus Rex]

27. Most clubs are, from what I've noticed

I always thought the Dodgers did that because then they have the same view all the time. :shrug:

[reyd reid reed]

2. Me either

I was still living in Los Angeles at the time. Bonehead was a tiny little guy.

One of the reasons I was so anxious to move away from all those fault lines...

[lizziegrace]

3. Lelapin was only 2

and we'd just moved to Mississippi. I remember the quake but know I couldn't appreciate the magnitude of the disaster.

:(

[Mutley]

5. I wasn't there, but me either.

Watchin' it on teevee, that is.

It was scary to watch.

:scared:

[CanuckAmok]

6. What happened, did California Peggy come to visit?

I keed...

[Rabrrrrrr]

8. I remember my first taco as well.

Though mine wasn't quite so dramatic.

[Fuzz]

9. My girlfriend at the time was driving across the SF bridge when it hit

[Oeditpus Rex]

13. Which bridge?

There's seven in the Bay Area.

[Fuzz]

16. Heh, good question. I don't know the area, but

the pretty one. :) She said she didn't even feel the earthquake though.

She was out there visiting friends.

I've never been to SF :( Been to LA though, which I disliked.

[Oeditpus Rex]

19. The pretty one's gotta be the Golden Gate

That sucker's solid. :thumbsup:

[idgiehkt]

17. wonder if your ex-gf is my ex bf's sister

she was driving on the golden gate bridge and thought she was having an acid flashback. I think she'd be in her early to mid-forties now.

[Fuzz]

21. My ex would be 40 now, she hadn't done acid up to that point

and had no brothers. :)

Had a sister though.

[idgiehkt]

26. she started dropping acid at 40?

just kidding, lol. :)

[BrotherBuzz]

20. I remember sitting down to watch a baseball game...

then the transmission cut out, and seconds later the ground started shaking. I was sixty miles from the epicenter, but it was a good shake nevertheless.

[Oeditpus Rex]

29. Where were you?

[BrotherBuzz]

33. Kenwood

In the big Craftsman house behind The Smothers Brothers Winery. Don't tell them I was drinking a delightful bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from St. Supery Winery at the time. ;)

[6000eliot]

23. Wasn't it the first night of the Oakland/SF World Series?

[Oeditpus Rex]

28. Game three

First two were in Oakland.

[6000eliot]

30. I remember tuning in to see the game,

and it was just at the point of being called.

[SeattleGirl]

25. I sure do.

Had settled down to watch the WS game, and then all hell broke loose.

[RevolutionaryActs]

31. I don't remember.

But seeing as I was 3 1/2 and no where near California at the time, I don't think that's odd. :P

[Oeditpus Rex]

32. And yet, you post in this thread

:eyes:

[RevolutionaryActs]

34. No where in the OP did you state this thread is only for people who

remember. :eyes:

So I'll post where I want, thank you very much. :rofl:

[Oeditpus Rex]

35. Yeah, but...

Yeah, but...










Aw, hell. x(

[RevolutionaryActs]

36. Nahhhh haaaa!

:rofl:

[L A Woman]

37. I was in Amsterdam

and people were running through the train station screaming about the earthquake. I didn't care that much because I was high. But I feel bad now! :-(

[Shine]

38. Yup, me neither. I was about 10 miles from the epicenter,

it lasted a good 15 seconds, at least. The moment of realization that it was an honest-to-god earthquake and not just a tremblor is forever imprinted on my cellular memory. I remember how for months afterwards every building I went into I would check for the exits and have an exit strategy in place at all times, plus I would get an adrenalin rush whenever the city bus rumbled past our little Victorian house and made the ground shake. I'm sure it was a form of PTSD...

The good news is, this day has become a holder of sweeter memories. On the three yr anniv of the quake, 14 yrs ago, my husband proposed and I happily accepted. :loveya: I remember at one point he gave me some cheesy line, like, "Three years ago the earth moved and now it's moving again!" :eyes: Gawd.

:hi:

[Oeditpus Rex]

39. Heebus

It's a wonder the earth didn't open up and swallow him for that one. :puke:

:hi:

[Shine]

40. Yeah, really.

:rofl: thank gawd it didn't... heheheheh.

[XemaSab]

41. Me either

I was thinking about it today, but I didn't see the thread until now.

Amazing that it's been 17 years... feels like yesterday.

[Oeditpus Rex]

42. I know

I can see me in the back yard, watching the house move, like it was yesterday.

[XemaSab]

43. I can remember my entire thought process

From "oh, a little quake, I better go stand in the door" all the way through "wow, I'm about to die... the house is about to collapse" to running outside after it was over.

The thing I will definitely never forget is the SOUND the house made.... it was LOUD and SCARY. Even though the whole room disintigrated before my eyes... pictures falling off the wall, big bookshelves falling over, anything that was on a table or shelf falling OFF the table or shelf, the sound was the most vivid part.

[Oeditpus Rex]

44. Sounds like you weren't in Redding then

Somewhere on the Peninsula? :shrug:

[XemaSab]

46. Downtown Oakland

:P

[Oeditpus Rex]

47. Then you had bigger problems

than a silly ol' earthquake.

[XemaSab]

48. What the hell is that supposed to mean?

:shrug:

[Oeditpus Rex]

49. Downtown Oakland?

Crime. Gangs. McClymonds High. :shrug:

[XemaSab]

50. Fuck you, asshole

That's my hometown.

Besides, I was a little further towards Piedmont than that... I was in the Oakland High District. :D

[Oeditpus Rex]

51. Whatever

My hometown is Salinas — fucking mecca for the Norteños and Sureños. That's no reflection on me. :shrug:

[XemaSab]

52. Hey, at least Janis Joplin can PRONOUNCE the name of my town...

:eyes:

[Oeditpus Rex]

53. 'Somewhere out near Salinas'?

She got it right. :shrug:

[TheMightyFavog]

45. The one thing that sticks in my head from that quake...

The footage of the car on the bay bridge that fell down to the lower section. I remember the news played that footage over and over.

[alittlelark]

54. I was talking to my NM sister on the phone (Mtn View).

The CD's came flying out of the cabinet, the 55 gallon fishtank spewed 5-10 gallons (along w/ fish I franticlly tried to put back in). The cool Los Altos art and wine festival lithiograph hit me in the head. Outside, the apt next to me's 'childcare provider'was hysterical.... we calmed her down...Once she was 'cool' all was well.
I took a hit and am not ashamed. She hung out at the 'lake' edge for 2 days.



Hubby came home.


70% was lost.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

55. My sister and I were on our way home...

from Santa Cruz on 280 when it hit -- we were on a big ol' overpass that shook like a son of a bitch. It was so bad the car kept trying to move into the other lane. We had our radio off, so we didn't really know what happened. Dozens of cars started pulling over to the side of the road and then we got the idea to turn on the radio. There's nothing quite like hearing the emergency broadcast system warning FOR REAL. :scared:

The house in SF was pretty trashed -- lots of stuff on the floor, some breakage. I was really okay until I saw the smoke from the Marina fire (I live on a big hill over by Candlestick) -- then I started to panic a bit. Every San Franciscan knows it wasn't the earthquake that destroyed the city, it was the fire.

That was one l-o-n-g night. Thank the gods for Xanax.

It felt like the earth didn't stop moving for days afterwards. You'd be shopping and feel an aftershock -- everyone would stand still and look at each other like, "Is it happening again???"

Nope, I'll never forget it either...