Santa Cruz residents hold moment of silence over Loma Prieta

At 5:04 Thursday evening, the exact time the Loma Prieta Earthquake struck the Central Coast 30 years ago, many residents in Santa Cruz held a moment of silence at several locations.

“I heard the sound first, and then the rumble. And then realized something really big was happening,” said Rosemary Anderson, the emergency services manager at Santa Cruz County.

“All of a sudden, the earth started shaking. So I climbed under the counter, and there’s pictures and things falling off the walls around me,” said Michele Averill, the Central Coast chapter CEO of the American Red Cross.

People also packed to a Santa Cruz library event on Thursday to listen to a panel of experts reflect on what happened.

“I live here now, this is my community. I’m really interested in history in general and the history of where I’m living,” said Geoffrey Laredo, a Santa Cruz resident. “And, quite frankly, I had no idea that it was as bad as it was.”

Panelists consisted of volunteers and county staff, who say the area is much better prepared for something catastrophic today.

“Buildings and homes are seismically retrofitted now. There’s probably less likelihood of the kind of fiscal damage that we experienced 30 years ago to have happen again today,” said Anderson.

“I mean when you think back 30 years ago, we didn’t have cell phones, we didn’t have Internet, we didn’t have the means of communicating like we have today,” said Averill.

There are also more disaster volunteer groups around now, and county officials say that will be essential to the relief effort.

KION 2019