The 35th anniversary of the Loma Prieta Earthquake is upon us.

David Schmalz here. Tomorrow, Oct. 17 at 10:17am, cell phones across California will buzz with a test earthquake warning, 35 years to the day after the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake—which was centered in the Santa Cruz Mountains near Aptos—that caused widespread devastation in Santa Cruz County and the Bay Area. 

The alert is part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s ShakeAlert program, launched in 2022, that messages phones and alert systems to hopefully give a few seconds of advance warning of an impending earthquake. 

Theoretically, such alerts could save lives in countless ways, whether a train slowing down or a person taking shelter under a table. 

Though I’m a California native—or perhaps because of it—I’ve never much feared earthquakes, even though I felt the tremors of two of the biggest quakes in California’s recorded history (Loma Prieta, Northridge). I found them both more novel than terrifying, but probably I’ve just been lucky. 

My memories of both are lucid. Thirty-five years ago tomorrow I was at my high school freshman football practice in the East Bay, and just after 5pm, the ground shook violently for many seconds—it felt like at least 40—and as I kept my balance, I could see the field undulating, literally. 

Meanwhile, all the outdoor basketball hoops were swaying madly, and the gym—where there was a girl’s volleyball game or practice—emptied out with screaming girls and adults. The first news we heard in the aftermath was when one of my teammate’s mom came to pull him out of practice, saying the Bay Bridge had collapsed. (It did not, of course, though one part of the westbound span did fall onto the eastbound span below. We didn’t know that though for at least another 30 minutes as practice continued.)

Then, just over four years later, I was even closer to the epicenter of the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, which struck Jan. 17 at 4:30am. I was a freshman at UCLA and sound asleep, along with my roommate, in our shoebox dorm room, and we both got thrown out of our beds and ended up on the ground next to each other, coming awake and trying to understand what exactly was happening as the building swayed to and fro.

My nine-story dorm was evacuated—my room was on the fourth floor—though my roommate and I both decided to just go back to bed, which paid off with a few extra hours of sleep. 

Another notable earthquake-themed story in my life is when, while I was living in San Francisco, my then-girlfriend kept a handaxe by her bed in case something collapsed around her in her sleep. I did not find the sight of that ax sleep-inducing. 

In any case, I just downloaded UC Berkeley’s free MyShake app to ensure I get an alert. 

And if anyone has any earthquake stories they’d like to share, I’d love to hear ‘em. Stay safe out there.

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