April 20, 2006

StreetTalk

by Carol Rosen

April 18 was the 100th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Since most of us weren’t around then, where were you when the 1989 quake struck?
(Asked at Almaden Oaks Plaza)


“I was in my house on Starwood Drive in Almaden with my son who was four at the time. I felt a violent jolt, then lots of shaking. My son and I wedged ourselves in an inside doorway until it stopped shaking. It took my husband five hours to get home from Palo Alto [which is normally a much shorter trip].”

Kate Whiting, 40ish
Almaden
Runs a family charitable foundation


“I was at home on Redmond Avenue. I heard the noise from the earthquake and I grabbed my grandchild and took him outside with me.”

Regina Masgli
Almaden
Retired


“I was at home and my [13-year old at the time] son was in the front and my daughter was in the house. The dog was so scared he jumped through the screen on the window. At first I was worried about my son, and then I was worried about getting the dog. I tried calling my husband but I couldn't get through. Then we spent the evening sitting outside. My son had just cleaned the bathrooms for the first time and everything flooded, and he never wanted to clean them again!”

Cindy Schoepf
Almaden
Retired elementary teacher


“I had just turned the corner, about a block away from our house, when I thought the car had lost its wheels because it kept banging against the curb. The trees in our neighborhood were whipping back and forth. I drove to our house and my son came running out to tell me that our pool had sloshed around and overflowed. The neighbors all got together on my lawn and we stayed out of our houses.”

Rob Boyles, 64
Almaden
City's anti-graffiti and litter program


“I was in a beauty parlor and ran outside when things began to shake. They hadn't started on my hair yet. I did go back in, but then noticed the heavy light poles were swaying. It was scary."

Marilyn Oberg, 58
Santa Teresa
Retired


“I was in Huntsville, Ala., but we had family out here and we were very worried about them. We moved out here just four years ago.”

Loretta Bastiaans, 46
Almaden
Homemaker


"I was at home sitting on the patio with my bird. I went inside to get the paper and the house started shaking. I watched as the water jug fell and I wanted to hold it but my husband said to let it go. We had $13,000 in damage and our insurance covered anything over $14,000. It wasn't until recently that we noticed a crack and that the rebar had bent and we felt it had to have been from the earthquake."

Betty Jacobs, 82
Almaden
Retired from Union School District


"I was in a dental office in Mountain View. We were all getting ready to go to aerobics class. We saw the buildings swaying. It took forever to get home, and on the way I noticed that the awnings covering the pumps at gas stations were down. It took me two hours to get home instead of 30 minutes. The stoplights weren't working."

Thalia Greene, 40
Almaden
Dental hygenist