Ever since 1906, residents of San Francisco and the Bay Area have been waiting for the "Big One" - the earthquake that would rock the area with a force so tremendous the entire area would be completely destroyed. On October 17, 1989 at 5:01 p.m., the fears that had been building up for those 83 years were suddenly realized. This was the day that the earth shuddered and heaved with such force, a section of the Oakland Bay Bridge collapsed. The Cypress Highway collapsed and the most exclusive district of San Francisco was engulfed in flames. My mother, Linda Mayers, remembers that day.
Kerin Mayers
I remember it was a warm afternoon and I had been resting prior to working a late shift when I awoke hearing the lamp on my night table rattle and vibrate. I looked towards the windows and they began rattling in their frames. I felt the bed beneath me begin to jump and shake. As I called out, "Where are the kids," I heard voices from downstairs and started down the hallway which was rocking as I was tossed side to side working my way down the hall. There was a brief pause, and I can't actually remember walking or falling down the stairs, but I remember kind of half sliding down to the first floor.
My husband met me on the stairs and helped me down. Then I remember all of us standing in the large doorway to the kitchen talking and saying, "Wow, this must be what an earthquake is all about." We had just moved to California two months prior and had not really experienced earthquakes. I remember my husband and myself reassuring the kids that there will be some aftershocks, but they won't be that big or that noisy (we hoped). Standing in that archway, all of us half crying, shaking and yet relieved to be unharmed and together, we composed our "Rock and Rumble Repertoire" which consisted of "I Feel the Earth Move Under My Feet," "All Shook Up," "Shake Rattle and Roll," "Hippy Hippy Shake," "Twist and Shout," and the "Jello-O Theme Song." My youngest daughter, Julie, had been out on her rocking horse which was on the deck, and her brother, Mike, had been sent to rescue her off that wildly bucking bronco. After this, we told Julie that she had just had the ride of her life. My other daughter, Kerin, who was watching game 4 of the World Series between the Giants and the A's dove under the kitchen table, as the kids are taught to do in school.
Over the next few hours, most people were out in their yards speaking to neighbors, seeing if everything was O.K. This was our first understanding that this quake was not the norm. We were able to get television reception in the upstairs master bedroom, and we all sat together watching the news reports. We learned that the center of the quake was in Los Gatos, about 15 miles away from us. On the TV, we learned that the damage seemed to be in the San Francisco/Oakland area. We saw a shot of the Bay Bridge with the Coast Guard rescue helicopter trying to rescue the people in the car that had fallen into the gap left behind when the upper level of the bridge collapsed onto the lower level. This was the most difficult moment. The reality of it all sunk in at once. We had experienced a real quake, 7.1 on the Richter scale, but this still wasn't the big one.
Linda Mayers
-> Table of Contents, Sacred Heart collection