I was at work in Menlo Park in ‘89 in a typical 1960s “curtain wall” structure that later was condemned and had to be completely reinforced with a structural steel exoskeleton…. The company at first denied there had been any damage even when cracks showed in the concrete walls. Finally two weeks after the quake they got an engineer’s report and a company VP ran through the halls yelling “Evacuate, get out, get out now!!!”
I had the fun of being on the phone for Loma Prieta. I said “do you feel that” at the P wave, and caller at first said no, then started yelling as it hit him. I dropped the phone and slid under my desk until a hysterical coworker ran by screaming, then I dashed out and grabbed her and we both stood in the doorway (useless) as fire extinguishers flew off the wall mounts and Sun workstations bounced off the desks onto the floors.
We really thought the building was coming down. Evidently it almost did…. Engineers later said that it could have come down in a 4.0 aftershock, and we had plenty of them.
After the shaking stopped, we evacuated via the stairways where the emergency lights were off because no one had ever checked the batteries. Chunks of concrete littered the lobby.
Stood around in the parking lot and then started to drive the short distance home, worried about the roofers who had been working on my house that day. The roof that was three stories up.
Aftershock hit as I was stopped at an out-of-order traffic light. Bouncy bouncy, that was very weird.
Roofers were sitting in the driveway, still white as sheets. Roofer said he didn’t know he could “get so intimate with roof rafters.” Went inside cautiously and brought out bottle of booze for me and roofers. Discovered electricity and phone were out. Turned off gas.
Things were tossed around inside house but looked OK. Actually found later that day that two stained glass windows had popped out and were lying in the yard, dismembered but unbroken, and weeks later found that chimney flue was cracked and had to be relined. Eventually noticed that CDs in CD tower had all slid over in one direction, and that four poster bed in upstairs bedroom had left four indentations in the ceiling, one above each post. Yes, it seemed to have bounced that high. Slept on the couch downstairs for about a month.
Seriously, though, I thought I was going to die in that one, and that’s exactly what my dad had said about being in the San Fernando quake in Southern California in the 1970s. That building I was in made noises that buildings are not supposed to make.
By “VA Gentlewoman” (a reposting of her comment on a Daily Kos posting in response to an October 2007 Bay Area earthquake)
