Friday, June 17, 2022

10/17/1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake Epicenter

 Waning Gibbous Moon

On Wednesday, the day before Game 6 of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors (YAYYYY!) and the Boston Celtics (BOOOOO!), I drove over to the coast to hike in the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park near Aptos, CA. The weather forecast predicted a hot day, so my strategy was to walk amidst the redwoods and stay UV-protected. 

Holy Cannoli! (You either get that or you don't). What a fun hike! I parked at George's Picnic Area and walked the old railroad grade to the Porter House Site, then I zigzagged down the Mill Pond Trail to visit the Buddha shrine underneath the footbridge. I was heading for the marker at the 1989 Epicenter of the 7.1 M Loma Prieta Earthquake, the one that shook up the Bay Area during the World Series game in Candlestick Park between the Giants and the A's (aka the "Battle of the Bay"). 



Popping back up on the Aptos Creek Fire Road, I encountered a mother (Kristen) and daughter (Katie) who were also headed up toward the epicenter. They had been there before back when Katie was a Girl Scout and Kristen was her group leader. After a brief introduction, I fell in line a comfortable distance behind them, a procession of three generations climbing the gentle grade to the Aptos Creek Trail. From there, it was a short hike to the Epicenter with a couple of easy creek crossings to make it interesting. 



The Epicenter, of course, is not one specific dot on a map or footprint-sized place in the dirt. It's defined as a point on the surface vertically above the focus of an earthquake. In reality, it's more like a small area than it is a point, but the sign constructed by the State Park is useful to let anybody who is interested know about where all hell broke loose on the San Andreas Fault deep beneath the surface back in 1989. 


I have been meaning to hike up there for many years, so I was happy to spend some time standing near the sign and trying to imagine what it might have been like to be present when the EQ happened. Would I have been able to remain standing? Were the redwoods wobbling and swaying? Did trees and branches fall? Were there any ground surface breaks? Did forest duff puffing up into the air and dust falling down from the trees make it hard to see and to breathe? How long did the shaking last? How many and how frequent were the aftershocks? I stared at the trees, the amazingly strong, resilient trees.


There will be more earthquakes, that will be certain. Life goes on. The Buddha abides.


Peace, Love, and Holy Cannoli,
Jim

#2,022 in 2022

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