The Conservative Cave
Current Events => The DUmpster => Topic started by: franksolich on October 16, 2009, 08:03:43 PM
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http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6794985
Oh my.
By the way, dutch508 here is a survivor, an actual survivor, of the greatest earthquake, ever, that shook Nebraska. Really.
Mrs. Overall (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 07:14 PM
Original message
Tomorrow will be 20 years... ..Where were you on Oct. 17th, 5:04 pm?
I guess this post is really just a check-in for DUers who were in (or near) the Bay Area on the day of the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. I can't believe it's been twenty years ago.
I was in Berkeley on the third story of an older wooden home (near the UC stadium). The entire house creaked and moved from side to side and then all of the parked car alarms began going off.
From the third story front window, my friends and I watched the fire start across the Bay in the Marina District of San Francisco (it burned into the night) and from another window, we watched the dust and smoke from the collapse of the Nimitz freeway in Oakland.
An evening I will never forget.
It's a big bonfire.
LisaM (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 07:16 PM
Response to Original message
1. Buying a six-pack at the grocery store on my way home from work
I had the radio on to listen to the World Series and they were talking about a delay.
I've always considered that baseball saved a lot of lives that day. People were all at home to watch the World Series between the A's and the Giants, and not on the Nimitz.
Edited to say, this was in Seattle.
livetohike (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 07:19 PM
Response to Original message
4. I just pulled into my driveway on my way home from work
I was listening to the world series on the car radio and wanted to hear the end of the inning before going into the house. Then I heard the announcers say they just felt a big earthquake. A few seconds later my car shook . I lived in Ventura County - about 400 miles away. I knew it had to be a big one.
Betsy Ross (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 07:19 PM
Response to Original message
5. I was putting the key in the front door of my Silicon Valley home.
The house creaked; I turned around to see the sidewalk rolling. Post earthquake was a trying time for all.
KamaAina (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 07:20 PM
Response to Original message
7. In New Orleans, watching the Series
then a few minutes after the quake the #$%&*$%# cable went out, so I couldn't find out whether or not The City was still there. Bear in mind I had lived there briefly about four years previously (this is my second go-round here). There were rumors about the Golden Gate being down, the UC library on fire...
Now I'm back (in San Jose) just in time for all the 20th anniversary TV specials.
XemaSab (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 07:27 PM
Response to Reply #7
14. I remember the reports of the library being on fire
My mom worked there at the time, and we could see a MASSIVE plume of black smoke coming from Berkeley. (It turned out to be a muffler shop, but we only learned that later.)
They also said the whole Bay Bridge collapsed. I think that's when I really started to get upset.
gratuitous (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 07:20 PM
Response to Original message
8. Watching the Series, when Al Michaels suddenly went off the air
I immediately thought, "They've had an earthquake, and a big one."
The California piggy primitive:
CaliforniaPeggy (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 07:22 PM
Response to Original message
10. We were living in SoCal...
But my parents were 5 miles from the epicenter.
The house creaked and rocked, but there was no damage, except for the potted plants that fell off the windowsills.
They'd installed anti-earthquake latches on their kitchen cupboards, and those held. Not one dish was lost.
My dad had designed the house, and he knew earthquakes.
Hmmm. The California piggy primitive's parents must have been centenarians at the time.
XemaSab (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 07:25 PM
Response to Original message
11. I was in Oakland in our apartment there
I stood in the doorway to my mom's room and watched everything in there disintigrate... bookshelves falling over, pictures falling off the wall. Hearing the house creak was terrifying. I honestly thought I was going to die.
After the quake, the neighbor's burglar alarm went off for hours.
Like you, I watched the fires and listened to the horrific reports on the radio.
God that quake sucked.
I was thinking of camping in the back yard tomorrow in commemoration.
stevedeshazer (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 07:26 PM
Response to Original message
12. Watching the A's get ready to kick the Giants asses
Then everything changed.
dysfunctional press (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 07:26 PM
Response to Original message
13. there IS a california state forum for just these kinds of posts, you know.
Mrs. Overall (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 07:28 PM
Response to Reply #13
16. I'm going to get deleted, but here goes...**** off.
As I said, it's a big bonfire; more primitive reminescencing at the link.
I was disappointed to note the absence of Doug's stupid ex-wife at this bonfire.
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Tomorrow will be 20 years... ..Where were you on Oct. 17th, 5:04 pm?
Playing king of the mountain on top of a geodesic dome jungle gym. It almost knocked me off
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Playing king of the mountain on top of a geodesic dome jungle gym. It almost knocked me off
You're not supposed to drink on the jungle gym. :lmao:
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Remember it well. For a brief, shining moment, it appeared the whole mess might slide into the ocean, but it's still there.
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My aunt and uncle were there for the world series. Uncle Jack fell off the crapper in the hotel. :lmao:
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I was four, my brother was just a few months old. I remember my mom pushing me under the kitchen table.
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You're not supposed to drink on the jungle gym. :lmao:
Drinking is the only excuse for being on a jungle gym at 17
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My cav squadron was out at the NTC. One of the OCs came and told us. What that meant was that we actually got to watch a bit of the World Series when we finished the rotation.
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I was at work in Soquel, CA, about five miles from the epicenter. Spent most of the quake in a doorway with a very hot co-worker clinging to me. :naughty:
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I was at work in Soquel, CA, about five miles from the epicenter. Spent most of the quake in a doorway with a very hot co-worker clinging to me. :naughty:
:cheersmate:
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I was at work in Soquel, CA, about five miles from the epicenter. Spent most of the quake in a doorway with a very hot co-worker clinging to me. :naughty:
Why you old dog.....you made the earth shake for her.
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Playing king of the mountain on top of a geodesic dome jungle gym. It almost knocked me off
October 1988? Fort Benning, Georgia.
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October 1988? Fort Benning, Georgia.
1989 actually.
I had a night class, a Tuesday I think, Sophomore Composition. We were done fairly early, and called my roommate to see how the game was going as he was a big A's fan. He was FREAKING out, he's from the Bay area and couldn't get a hold of any family.
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October 1988? Fort Benning, Georgia.
LOL What about October 1989?!
20 years dutch .... 20. 1989, 1999, 2009.
Dang, you make me feel old. I was at Benning in October of '82.
KC
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And don't forget DUmmies, it was caused by GWB. :whatever: :-)
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And don't forget DUmmies, it was caused by GWB. :whatever: :-)
:rotf:
And he wasn't even Governor of Texas yet, it's amazing the power that he had! :-)
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:rotf:
And he wasn't even Governor of Texas yet, it's amazing the power that he had! :-)
The earthquake was just a warmup to 9/11. :uhsure: :thatsright: :mental:
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The earthquake was just a warmup to 9/11. :uhsure: :thatsright: :mental:
Just testing those dynamite charges on the Bay Bridge, right?
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Just testing those dynamite charges on the Bay Bridge, right?
I'm sure spooked911 could tell us!!! :rotf:
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I was praying for a Tsunami of Biblical proportions to cleanse the Left Coast of it's human trash. Alas, I was let down. Maybe next time.
(http://www.weatherusa.net/blog/files/20050112/tsunami_fake.jpg)
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1989 actually.
I had a night class, a Tuesday I think, Sophomore Composition. We were done fairly early, and called my roommate to see how the game was going as he was a big A's fan. He was FREAKING out, he's from the Bay area and couldn't get a hold of any family.
Yeah, phone lines were fairly tied up for a couple of days. We could call out, but people in other places couldn't call in.
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I was halfway through the second month of my very first radio job. We were one of the first stations in W. Texas on the air with reports about what happened. I've still got that tape stashed away in my stuff.
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Sitting in a bar in Bo. Baretto, Phillipines, on what I think was my fourth or fifth beer of the day (it was the morning after in the PI).
Hey, it was still before noon there. I was waiting till then to start REALLY drinking.
Now I'd like to ask the DUmmies a question--the Loma Prieta quake was a 6.9 or 7.0, depending upon who you ask. I was on Guam on August 8th, 1993 when we got nailed with an 8.0. Where the hell were you asshats then?
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I was riding my motorcycle back home (another part of "Sac") from West Sacramento when I thought I got dizzy. I swerved on the road, but coulden't figure out why.
When I got home I saw the news showing the stopping of the ball game and the collapse of the freeway.