Original Blog Entry: World Series 1989 Earthquake

CARBOB — Sat, 14 Jun 2014 09:58:59 GMT

Real name, Loma Prieta 1989. I worked at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, better known as SLAC. There were three of us, re-aligning the damping ring components, when earthquake hit, around 5Pm. The damping ring is approximately forty feet underground. I was running the instrument taking readings, when we were hit. The components are mounted on concrete girders. They were moving 5-6 inches. That is huge, they are aligned within +- .004 of a inch. All 3 of us made for the stairwell, the ground was still shaking,I was the first one topside. We had several aftershocks and some others, from our group showed up, then the safety people. They told us, do not re-enter, until they inspected the entire linac, which is two miles long. We went to our office and the supervisor told us to leave and not to report next day, unless we were called. They were uncertain how long it would take for the safety inspection. All electricity was off and two of us commuted from Modesto, a 2 hour drive, east of SF. When we left, we were uncertain if the other two bridges were damaged and closed. We heard about Bay Bridge damage, we headed for San Mateo Bridge, our normal way home. The entire area was black, lights out. We get to I-580 and headed east,seeing the power was on about twenty miles to the east. We made it safely home. My boss calls next day and tells me, it will take about 2 more days for inspection, he would call. The inspection found no damage, but in the back of my mind, were questions. When you live in Ca, you eventually get use to the rattles.

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