Hard to believe that it was 25 years ago tonight I was working in the shoe department at Macys at New Park Mall in Newark, CA when the Loma Prieta Quake hit. At 5:04 PM the whole mall began shaking and I thought, oh, its an earthquake, no big deal. The next 15 seconds lasted an eternity as the floor rolled underneath me, customers started screaming, a section of the roof caved in and I heard crashing sounds from the china department which was one floor above me. A customer clung to me in the doorway to the stockroom and we said a prayer together. The Bay Bridge, San Mateo Bridge and Dumbarton Bridge were all closed so I had to drive up 880 and cross over 238 and come back down 101. My normal 25 minute drive home across the San Mateo bridge took 6 hours in bumper to bumper traffic. There were no cell phones so I had no idea if my family was okay, if my apartment building was still standing or what was going on with Mike Allison who was working at Hillsdale Mall on the other side of the bay in the shoe department. When I finally got home, all was well but Mike told me he saw some people pull up to the mall, get out and start looting. The Nimitz freeway collapse was devastating and 42 people lost their lives as they were crushed. The third game of the World Series was going on in Oakland which was a good thing as the freeway was less crowded than normal as people were watching the game instead of commuting. I dont miss earthquakes one bit now that I live in the Midwest. I wont ever forget those 15 seconds of terror.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 00:54:55 +0000
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