What was the magnitude of the earthquake in 1989 in the Bay Area?
On October 17, 1989, the San Francisco Bay area was jolted by the Loma Prieta earthquake. The quake’s epicenter was near Loma Prieta Peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The magnitude 6.9 quake was the most powerful the state had experienced in several years.
How big was the earthquake that took down the Bay Bridge?
6.9-magnitude
On the afternoon of 17 October 1989, a 6.9-magnitude earthquake rocked the San Francisco Bay Area, killing 63 people and causing $13bn in damages as it toppled a chunk of the Bay Bridge, collapsed a section of freeway in Oakland, and crumbled thousands of buildings from San Francisco to Santa Cruz.
Did the Bay Bridge collapse in an earthquake?
On Oct. 17, 1989, ABC7 News reporter Leslie Brinkley was crossing the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge on her way to a routine assignment. Her story and her life changed in 15 seconds when the bridge collapsed as the Loma Prieta earthquake hit.
What earthquake destroyed the Bay Bridge?
Loma Prieta earthquake
San Francisco earthquake of 1989, also called Loma Prieta earthquake, major earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay Area, California, U.S., on October 17, 1989, and caused 63 deaths, nearly 3,800 injuries, and an estimated $6 billion in property damage.
What was the richter scale of the San Francisco earthquake 1989?
Caused by a slip along the San Andreas Fault, the quake lasted 10–15 seconds and measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale, or 6.9 on the open-ended Richter Scale. The quake killed 63 people throughout northern California, injured 3,757 and left some 3,000-12,000 people homeless.
What is the strongest earthquake to hit California?
magnitude 6.0 earthquake
Dozens of aftershocks followed, including some of magnitude 4.0 or greater. The magnitude 6.0 earthquake was the largest to hit the area since the magnitude 6.1 quake in 1994. Some viewers shared their reaction to the recent earthquake, many comparing it to the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in San Francisco.
How far can a 7.0 earthquake be felt?
It depends on how you define “effect.” The Loma Prieta (a 6.9- earthquake 7.1 quake, depending on measurement type) in 1989 centered in the San Francisco area could be felt by some people over here in Reno, but we weren’t really impacted. But a 7.0 quake can cause damage 100-150 miles away.
Why did the Bay Bridge collapse in 1989?
Why did the Bay Bridge collapse in 1989? On October 17,1989, the Loma Prieta Earthquake struck northern Cali- fornia , causing the collapse of a two-level, 1.25-mile-long section of the Cypress Viaduct on Interstate Route 880 in Oakland; 42 people were killed.
How many people died in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake?
San Francisco earthquake of 1989, also called Loma Prieta earthquake, major earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay Area, California, U.S., on October 17, 1989, and caused 63 deaths, nearly 3,800 injuries, and an estimated $6 billion in property damage.
How big was the 1989 earthquake?
The largest, a 6.0 magnitude, occurred along the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada, a major physiographic boundary along the California-Nevada border. The magnitude 6.0 earthquake was widely felt, with reports as far away as the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento in California, and Carson City in Nevada.
What magnitude was the 89 earthquake?
What magnitude was the 89 earthquake? 6.9 Its epicentre was in the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, near Loma Prieta peak in the Santa Cruz mountains, northeast of Santa Cruz and approximately 60 miles (100 km) south of San Francisco.