Loma Prieta Quake: San Francisco Wakes to Ruin
The Loma Prieta earthquake struck at 5:04 p.m. on October 17, 1989, just as Game 3 of the World Series between the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants was about to begin at Candlestick Park. The magnitude 6.9 quake lasted 15 seconds. Its most devastating effect was the collapse of a 1.25-mile section of the Cypress Street Viaduct in Oakland, where 42 people were crushed in their cars when the upper deck pancaked onto the lower. A section of the Bay Bridge also collapsed. Total deaths reached 63 across the region. The earthquake was broadcast live to a national television audience tuned in for baseball, making it the first major American earthquake witnessed in real time by millions. The World Series resumed ten days later. The disaster prompted California to spend $12 billion retrofitting bridges and highways.
October 17, 1989
37 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on October 17
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