European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 17, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A a a a Magazine California earthquakes amps Susan Harris 1989 toll included a collapsed freeway a broken Bay Bridge a fiery Marina District and hundreds of destroyed or damaged Homes. It could have been much  area vibration was the �?T89 quake Only a warning shot by John Leighty United press International beneath the Santa Cruz mountains hundreds of tremors each Day Send Needles quivering on an array of scientific instruments a seismic reminder of last years powerful and deadly earthquake. The Low magnitude vibrations will fade away Over the next seven years a by which time everyone fully expects to be focusing on yet another earthquake anyway such As the one predicted to be even More devastating than the 7.1 Shaker of oct. 17, 1989, that left 62 dead and caused $7 billion in damage. It was called the Loma Prieta quake. The seismic Quot event Quot Drew an unprecedented army of scientists because of its Power timing location and the availability of new technology. It struck just before the Start of the third game of the world series Between the san Francisco giants and the Oakland a sat candlestick Park and immediately went prime time to. A collapsed freeway a broken Bay Bridge a fiery Marina District and hundreds of destroyed or damaged Homes near the Remote epicentre 75 Miles South of san Francisco dominated the tube for Days. But it could have been worse. It could have been much worse. Quot we were extremely fortunate that the rupture of the san Andreas fault system on oct. 17 Vas bilateral a the rupture started and ran both ways along the fault a so the total duration at the source was about 10 seconds Quot University of California seismologist Robert Uhrhammer said. Quot if the rupture had started at one end and ran Down the fault it would have added a 20-second duration and the amount of damage might have gone up by a Factor of four or five not just double a he said. San Francisco s storied 1906 quake he said was also a bilateral rupture. It started near Olema calif., and stretched both South and North for hundreds of Miles along the san Andreas fault. Its duration was a Long 40 to 42 seconds. An Early analysis of that historic 8.6 magnitude quake is still considered the Bible of modern seismology Uhrhammer said. Only recently have sophisticated instruments sensitive probes and supercomputers begun to shed new Light on earthquake science. Uhrhammer was driving to his Home in the Albany Hills a a House built on Bedrock and retrofitted with absorbent shocks a and Wasny to even aware of the Loma Prieta Shaker until he stopped at a store for groceries. He quickly returned to the seismology lab where the quake s size and location were already pinpointed. One of the surprises was the deepness of the quake. Its origin was about 11 Miles beneath the surface compared to the usual distance of six Miles. Analysis also showed the quake moved the ground about two meters laterally which was expected and one meter vertically which was t expected. It was that unexpected vertical movement that contributed to the collapse of the Cypress Structure a double decked freeway in Oakland that claimed 42 lives and much of the dramatic to footage in the quakers aftermath. Engineering studies show that the Bay Bridge where a Section collapsed behaved As it was designed to a failing Only at a specific Section when its design criteria was exceeded. In this Case the Bridge was built to move five inches horizontally and the quake moved it seven inches snapping bolts and dropping steel plating along a portion of the upper deck. A year later the scars remain. The Cypress freeway has been demolished the weakened Embarcadero freeway on the san Francisco Side of the Bay Bridge is to be dismantled the Scenic coast Highway near Stinson Beach sunk some 20-feet and will remain closed until at least next Spring landmark buildings have been condemned and destroyed in Santa Cruz county and even in san Francisco. Peter Forster medical director for psychiatric emergency services at san Francisco general Hospital said hundreds of people have suffered from Post traumatic stress disorder which could be re triggered by earthquake anniversary activities. Forster said the condition unleashes Quot persistent anxiety and fear increased tension sleep disturbances and nightmares physical complaints without cause and a withdrawal from family and  . Geological Survey scientist Peter Ward Calls last october s quake a Quot warning shot. The most recent data put together in the aftermath of Loma Prieta showed there were two out of three chances a or a 63 percent probability a of a major quake hitting the san Francisco Bay Region in the next 30 years. That Means one could hit at any time. Quot we see Loma Prieta As a warning shot of what is to come. There s not Only going to be More earthquakes in the near future but they will be closer to population centers Quot Ward said. Quot quakes Are going to be More of a problem in the next few decades than they have been in the past. We be been Lucky in our lifetime but this wont  Quot while we can to control earthquakes we can do something to control their effects through emergency preparedness Quot Ward said. He said preparedness includes everything from Public inspection of major structures to homeowners making sure objects won t fall from Walls and bolting houses to Cement foundations. Otherwise Uhrhammer says California coastal residents have accepted their shaky seismic honeymoon. Quot a Large percentage of the scenery the Mountain ranges and the geological Beauty that attracts people to the coast is due to the action of earthquakes and fault movements Quot he said. Wednesday october 17, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 13