Davenport firefighter reflects on the 35th anniversary of the Loma Prieta Earthquake
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) — On this day decades ago, the deadly Loma Prieta earthquake rocked Santa Cruz County and the Bay Area.
The massive quake leaving up to 10 billion dollars of damage in its wake.
Despite being known for mainly affecting the Bay Area, the shake was named after being centered by the Loma Prieta peak in the Santa Cruz mountains.
The quake had a reported magnitude of 6.9 at its peak.
According to the CDC, In total 63 people were killed including multiple people in Santa Cruz County.
Close to 38 hundred people were also hurt and over 12 thousand people were displaced.
People from Santa Cruz as well as a former firefighter, spoke about what they recall that day.
Many homes and businesses were damaged.
Residents in Santa Cruz experienced chaos as communication lines went down during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
"That night we didn’t know what was happening phone services were out," Jay Rosella Myers said. "I couldn’t call my husband who worked over the hill and he had a long time driving because all the roads were closed because of all the earth that had come down on the roads."
One local described the scene inside her home as the quake struck.
"My house was like a poltergeist, it hit hard in different directions," Myers said. "It was lots of things that came out of the cabinets all over the floors. I’m on the way home and I thought I saw smoke, and it turns out part of the clear ocean down and it made it was a huge dust up into the air almost like it was smoke."
Businesses around the area reported to be damaged which disrupted operations.
"All the tiles like marble tiles were popping off on the walls in that little area of the businesses," Myers said. "There’s a jewelry store across the way and sirens are going off electricity went off fountains stopped, and they made an announcement that you had to go through one in exit."
Philip Arro was a volunteer firefighter for Davenport described what he saw that day.
"I got into my chiefs truck and drove around Davenport to check out the town and make sure everything everybody’s ok," Philip Arro Davenport firefighter said. "The electricity was out in the store and in Davonport and this one store there was a few things fell off the shelves, bunch of bottled water bottles of wine, fell off the shelves and splattered all over the floor."
Arro shared his immediate reaction.
"The jerk that happened in Davenport right away, Arro said. "I jumped and ran underneath the door way to make sure I secure and held myself there, but my reaction and earthquake is common here in California. Some of the people were shaken up but it didn’t really shake Davenport it was more of a jerk because davenport is sitting on a rock.
County officials Thursday, emphasize the importance of being prepared.
"Emergency are things like your critical medicines and documentation pieces. food and water for earthquake preparedness is going to be a critical one," David Reid director of Santa Cruz County said.
The county wants to remind people to have an emergency plan and kit ready. The kit should have the minimum of essential documents, food with a long shelf life, batteries and flashlights.
