Loma Prieta earthquake, October 17, 1989, by Caitlin Ward

From MemoryArchive

Who: Caitlin Ward
What: Loma Prieta earthquake
When: October 17, 1989
Where: San Francisco, California

The 1989 earthquake is something I will never forget. My sister (age 2 1/2) and my 8 months pregnant mother were at or favorite playground when all around things started to shake. My sister was on the monkey bars and fell as the shaking got harder while I quickly slid down the slide to get to my mom. The Spanish speaking nannies were all freaking out and my mom, who spoke minimal Spanish, had to try and get them to a safe place.

After the initial quake, things got worse. When we got in the car we heard on the radio that the freeway had collapsed killing an unknown number of people and the Bay Bridge had snapped with several cars plummeting to their doom. My Dad was in the middle of the two disasters but we didn't know it. The drive home was peppered with my moms sobs until, about 3/4s of the way home, my Dad's voice came over the radio.

He didn't end up coming home for another couple of days but knowing he was safe allowed us to deal with other things. Back home, the power was out as was the rest of the block's. Most of the kids on my block were 3rd grade or younger, and pretty much all of us had freaked out. The parents arranged for a tiny bon fire in the middle of our block, complete with hotdog roasting and s'mores. With school cancelled and full stomachs our world was just fine. Of course, it was only later that I realized that the stupid earthquake ruined the Giants only shot at the World Series for almost a decade.