Bay Area Leaders Mark Loma Prieta Anniversary With Push for Federal Earthquake Safety

On the 35th anniversary of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that rocked San Francisco, a group of Bay Area leaders gathered Thursday at Pier 9 to tell their stories of the infamous day and call for the passage of an earthquake safety bill introduced by a local member of Congress.

The 6.9 magnitude earthquake, named after the highest peak of the Santa Cruz Mountains near the quake’s epicenter, resulted in 63 people dead, nearly 3,800 injured and over $6 billion in damage.

Rep. Kevin Mullin (D-South San Francisco) recalled being home with his mother, getting ready for Game 3 of the Giants-Athletics World Series when his house began to rock.

“I remember running down the hall and actually banging into the walls of the hall. As I ran down, the pictures were coming off, books were falling off the shelves,” said Mullin, whose proposed federal legislation aims to build on earthquake resiliency efforts already underway in San Francisco and other California cities.

Standing in front of the Bay Bridge, Mullin also recounted learning about the widespread devastation, including the bridge’s partial collapse.

He called the anniversary a sober reminder of the destructive power of earthquakes and spoke of the need to prepare for those that lie ahead.

“California is earthquake country, but we’re not alone in facing risks. This is a national problem that deserves national attention,” Mullin said. “75% of the United States could experience a major earthquake, and almost half of the U.S. population, 150 million people, reside in areas that are at risk of experiencing a damaging earthquake in the next 50 years.”

In August, the first-term representative formally introduced the Earthquake Resilience Act, which would direct federal authorities to conduct a risk assessment of earthquake preparedness throughout the country.

“On average, earthquakes cost the nation billions of dollars annually in building damage and associated losses,” Mullin said. “Yet despite these known losses, we still don’t have a firm understanding of how prepared communities are in this country.”

The risk assessment would look at both the progress made to strengthen earthquake resilience through things like building codes and also look for any gaps in preparation, according to the bill’s text.

Like other cities in California, San Francisco has already taken similar steps. After the Loma Prieta quake revealed structural deficiencies in unreinforced masonry buildings and wood-frame “soft story” buildings, which have residential units above ground-floor parking or retail, the city mandated a seismic retrofit program covering thousands of older buildings that are susceptible to crumbling during a disaster.

In April, Breed also directed the Office of Resilience and Capital Planning and the Department of Building Inspection to draft proposed legislation to assess potentially vulnerable concrete buildings and provide owners with clear retrofit standards.

Speaking from the deck of the historic Klamath ferry at Pier 9, she compared the boat’s rocking to the feeling of earthquake aftershocks.

When Loma Prieta struck, Breed was in high school. She recalled seeing fallen buildings across the city and referenced San Francisco’s recent retrofit work.

“That’s what this is about. It’s about preparedness,” Breed said. “It’s about taking an opportunity to remind the public that it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.”

Mullin’s bill, which Breed is supporting, also would direct the National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program, a collaboration between several federal agencies, to develop new federal standards and guidelines for getting lifeline infrastructure systems up and running after an earthquake. Lifeline infrastructure, Mullin explained, includes things like power, water, communications and transportation.

“We are more reliant than ever before on these lifeline systems to live, to work, to communicate with each other,” Mullin said.

Lastly, the bill calls for the U.S. Geological Survey to update its seismic monitoring systems with new technology aimed at improving the predictions of aftershocks and large-magnitude earthquakes.

“Investing in preparedness now will save lives and money in the future. That is why Congress should act to help ensure the nation is better prepared for the next disaster,” Mullin said.