25 years ago, the Earthquake changed my life for the better and helped me become a DJ. I bet you didnt know that. To put a positive spin on todays anniversary of the second worst earthquake in San Francisco Bay Area history, I was in my college down in San Jose California as a Radio-TV-Film student. I had just finished my on-air shift on KSJS fm and was about to start the after air logs when I heard our producer begin to scream. She was asleep under a tree outside the windows of our studio when the ground began to roll like waves of water so strong that she physically could not stand up. At that point we looked out the window, realized we were in a major earthquake and stupidly, we began to run for the door to help her. The stupid part was were were about to run through no less than 3 sets of glass doors which thankful did not shatter. We got her inside and the staff of 4 of us jumped into news mode. We quickly realized turning on our radios that we were the only fm station on the air for over 100 miles in all directions. We were the only station with a backup generator. We got a tv with antenna on it and were picking up channels broadcasting from trucks watching dumbfounded single news anchors trying to broadcast with a single lightbulb over their heads. I started making calls to relative in New York who was watching the news and letting us know what they were saying and thats what we reported since the local stations had nothing. Campus police tried to kick us out of the building saying it was unsafe. There were, in fact, massive cracks up the walls. We refused since we had a federal granted licensing to be on the air and could legally refuse unless the building was on fire or literally crumbling around us. So we were told, no ins and outs until the fire department cleared it. Later that week the building was condemned. But we were young and industrious. We moved staff and food in and out the windows and stayed on air 24 hrs a day reporting everything would could as well as letting parents of the college kids know their kids were safe. Unlike anything Ive ever scene before and until 9/11 people of the entire Bay Area came together for months. Food and aide drives were set up collecting a record amount of items like weve never scene. Utility companies worked around the clock even as many highways and streets had large enough cracks, even all the way down in San Jose, to make those streets impassable. We stayed on-air for four days straight until the rest of the majors were back up to full power and not having to broadcast from trucks. Months later the efforts to help our neighbors were still in full swing and out of the blue, those of us who were on the air those four days revived accommodations from the city of San Jose and were all offered jobs at local major stations. I took a production position at the big pop station (no defunct) Kwss where I eventually worked for the Chicago based Windy City DJ Mixshow that started me in my career as a Mixshow, mobile dJ and eventually a night club DJ. So good things do come out of tragedies. But my heart does still go out to the people hurt or lost in the devastation of the quake. And Ill never forgot how the community came together, forgot their differences, and helped their neighbors. I only wish people could be like that daily.
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 16:35:11 +0000
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