Residents reflect on Loma Prieta quake

On Oct. 17, 1989, a massive earthquake shook the Bay Area to its core. Infrastructure crumbled, buildings burned and the anticipated Bay Bridge World Series between the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A's was postponed.

The Appeal-Democrat put out a call for readers to share their memories of the Loma Prieta earthquake. Here are a few of them:

By Gary Bradford

I was in Napa at the time (lived there). I was outside when the quake occurred and was just lifting a flake of hay over a fence into a feeder for one of our horses. I felt really dizzy and almost fell over. When I went in the house shortly after, the rest of my family was in a doorway and told me we just had a major earthquake. We tried to watch TV to learn more, but only had "over the air" stations and most of them had been knocked off the air. Eventually they came back on and were able to watch and see what happened. It was crazy.

— Gary Bradford is a Plumas Lake resident

By Andy Arrenquin

On Oct. 17, 1989, I was an 11-year-old excited to attend my first-ever World Series game. My father and five of his good friends decided to go in style and took a limousine to the game, which came in handy later in the evening.

Once we entered Candlestick Park and got to our seats, I was a little upset because they were probably the worst I've ever had. We were positioned just one row from the very top of the 'Stick, and worst yet we were above the scoreboard and were unable to see the big TV screen for replays.

But after all it was the World Series, so I couldn't really be that upset, right?

Then at 5:04 p.m., the stadium started to shake and I heard a rumble that I first thought was the wind. But once I heard a lady scream "earthquake" I panicked and tried to run — to where I don't know — before getting my foot caught in the seat in front of me.

Once the quake ended, Giants fans cheered wildly thinking that it was just the wake-up call San Francisco's bats needed. Those who were familiar with earthquakes thought it was a small one and that the game would go on, but even as an 11-year-old I knew that this game would not be played. After all, there was no power in the stadium.

Upon leaving the 'Stick, a man carrying a portable television showed us glimpses of the collapsed Bay Bridge and everyone knew immediately that this was far from your normal quake.

It took us around eight hours to get through San Francisco and to the Golden Gate Bridge that evening since it was the only way out of San Francisco. That's when taking a limousine came in handy since we could watch the news and see what was going on around the city.

Once we finally made our way to the Golden Gate and were heading out of San Francisco, I had to look back and get one final glimpse of the city. And what a sight it was. There were no lights by the bay that evening — all you could see was a series of fires burning in the hills of San Francisco. It is a sight that has been etched in my memory ever since.

— Andy Arrenquin is an Appeal-Democrat sports reporter