Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

10-17-89 . . . Having worked hard all day, I plopped in front of the television set this evening to watch the third game of the World Series. Would San Francisco play better at home than it had in Oakland the first two games? Would the Giant bats finally come to life? No sooner had I turned on the set, however, than the satellite transmission stopped. One moment I was looking at the announcer, Al Michaels, and the next I saw a fuzzy gray screen and heard a faint voice in the background. Minutes later someone interrupted to announce that an earthquake had struck San Francisco. Holy cow! For the next several hours I watched news reports of the disaster. Although the people in the stadium were uninjured, others in the bay area were not. Entire sections of freeway collapsed, killing drivers and passengers instantly. Houses crumbled. Electrical and telephone service stopped. Needless to say, the World Series game was postponed. By all indications, this is a major earthquake, perhaps the strongest since 1906. I’ve grown up hearing stories about how devastating earthquakes can be, but never really reflected on what it’s like to be in one. In fact, earthquakes are a laughing matter to many Ameri­cans. They joke about California one day “dropping into the sea”. I guess there are worse ways to die. By the way, today’s earthquake was centered near Santa Cruz, the place of my dreams. I hope the UC-Santa Cruz campus wasn’t damaged.