Loma Prieta Earthquake marks its 25th anniversary. It is believed to be the most destructive earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area since the 1906 Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire.
It was named after the famous Loma Prieta peak, which was located near the epicenter in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The quake hit the San Andreas fault on October 17th of 1989 with a high magnitude of 6.9, killing 63 people and leaving 3,757 injured.
The majority of those who died were those who were stuck under the rubble of the double-deck Cypress St. viaduct of Interstate Highway 880 in Oakland that collapsed. Different types of vehicles were stuck in between massive slabs of concrete. The Bay Bridge was closed for a full month when a part of the eastern span went down.
The damage caused by the1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake was widespread, hitting San Francisco, Santa Cruz County, the Peninsula, and Oakland.
Apart from the toll of the victims and the huge damage to the area, it was also the first major earthquake to be broadcast on live television. Perhaps this is so because it happened during the pre-game coverage at Candlestick Park of Game 3 of the famed 1989 World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A's.
The initial estimate of the fatalities at the time had been in the hundreds, which was primarily based on the scope of the Cypress freeway collapse. Moreover, it has been widely believed that the fact that two of the Bay Area's biggest baseball teams were facing off in the World Series helped reduce the commuters on the freeway that collapsed.
It was believed that there were fewer people on the freeway than it would normally have during the afternoon rush hour because many people were at the stadium to watch the big game.
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