G7-Earthquakes – Outward Expression of Earth’s Dynamic Interior-800-900L-02

The San Francisco Giants baseball team are playing against their opponents, the Oakland Athletics, tonight. Both teams are on the field warming up at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, CA. Tonight is just not any game, but the third game in the 1989 World Series. The crowd is excited and waiting for the first pitch of the game. Suddenly, they feel a strong jolt. It feels like the whole stadium was struck by something. However, the shaking does not stop right away. The locals know all too well what is happening: an earthquake. From past experience with smaller quakes, they know this one feels pretty large.

Within seconds of this quake, seismologists around the world were checking their seismographs. Soon after, they were sharing their data. It was not long until it was all too obvious. Indeed, a very large earthquake hit the San Francisco Bay area. For the people at Candlestick Park, the darkness and confusion in the stadium was scary. Unfortunately, it was nothing like what had happened just miles away from them. Several roadways, including a section of the double-deck Nimitz Freeway in Oakland had collapsed.

The people of San Francisco were aware that a big earthquake could happen at any time. It was common knowledge the city was near the San Andreas Fault. This segment of the fault had been inactive since the famous 1906 quake. The area was due for another large quake, maybe even overdue. The city of San Francisco and its residents were reminded of the amount of energy released by a large quake. Scientists quickly identified the epicenter of the earthquake as an area near Loma Prieta Peak. Loma Prieta Peak is located approximately 60 miles south of San Francisco. It sits along a segment of the San Andreas Fault system.