Standing on Irving and Funston streets near St.
Anne’s School in the Inner Sunset District on October 17, 1989, after having
watched his daughter’s volleyball practice conclude, USF Audio Visual
Production Manager Pat Steacy was waiting for the bus when suddenly he heard an
incredibly loud, rumbling noise.
“Man,
the N Judah sounds awfully loud today,” Steacy thought to himself.
Little
did he realize though that the bus wasn’t going to be coming anytime soon. Just
a couple of seconds later, the famous Loma Prieta Earthquake began. Steacy
remembered how the cars and buildings around him started to wave violently back
and forth for approximately 15 seconds. All he could do was wait for the
extreme trembling to cease, and then he immediately found his daughter and
wife. Thankfully, there were no major casualties reported from St. Anne’s after
the earthquake. Steacy even likened the experience to a thrilling Disneyland
ride.
“It
was definitely an E Ticket ride,” Steacy remembered with laughter about the
event. An E ticket ride is a ride at any amusement park that is known for its
great intensity. However, the Inner Sunset District was not nearly the most
affected area in the Bay Area to be impacted by the quake.
According
to the website of the United States Geological Survey, a national agency that
is dedicated to providing reliable information about the Earth’s landscape and how
to cope with natural hazards, the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake was a 6.9
magnitude quake that originated in the Santa Cruz Mountains and was very close
to the Loma Prieta Mountains in Morgan Hill, California. The quake reportedly
killed 63 people, injured 3,757 others, and caused approximately $6 billion in
property damage all over the state. The most extreme examples of the impact of
the earthquake were the complete collapsing of the Cypress Street Viaduct of
Intersection 880 in Oakland, the disruption of Game 3 of the World Series at
Candlestick Park, and the collapsing of the upper deck of the Bay Bridge.
The
quake obviously created lots of problems for citizens living near and in the
Bay Area, but according to Steacy who has worked for USF since 1974, the
University of San Francisco at the time suffered only minor damages. Some walls
were cracked, and numerous books fell off of shelves in the Gleeson Library,
but there were no major casualties reported as a result of the quake. USF did
close the St. Ignatius Church for a short while, but that would be the crux of
the impact of the Loma Prieta Earthquake on USF.
“The buildings were
pretty much unaffected,” Steacy noted. “There were some cracks, but there
wasn’t any major damage. It actually seemed to be a good situation.”
However, while USF
seemed to be able to breathe a sigh of relief in 1989, the university today still
has worked hard to prepare itself for the next massive earthquake. According to
Eric Giardini of Disaster Preparedness of the Public Safety Department, USF has
taken numerous precautions in preparation for another earthquake that could be
similar or worse than Loma Prieta.
First, Giardini
revealed that USF has an “All Hazards Plan.” This plan would involve members of
the highest levels of administration at USF all coming together to brainstorm
on how to address the potential disaster. For example, Fr. Fitzgerald would
head a group of faculty and administration members and come up with a plan on
where to send students if they needed to evacuate the school, and they would
work immediately towards setting up online classes for students in case USF was
forced to shut down. However, Giardini disclosed that USF would do all it could
to avoid shutting down.
“It’s our goal not to
shut down,” Giardini stated. “We would look into the possibility of online
classes depending on if the power is available. Ultimately, we want to stay
open because it’s important for the students to maintain their education and
for the University to not suffer financially.”
For now, Giardini and
the rest of the Public Safety Department at USF have posted lots of information
online on what to do before, during, and after a potentially large earthquake. Also,
the Public Safety Department has stressed that every student should have what
they call a “Personal Preparedness Kit.” This kit would simply be a
conglomeration of resources such as food, water, comfortable shoes, and other
things, and students should have enough of those items to last at least 72
hours on their own. That way, students can be self-sufficient for a small
period of time, and they wouldn’t have to depend on USF while the university
tries to recover during the aftermath of a quake.
If worse comes to
worse, students could actually be sent to another Jesuit school in the nation
to continue their studies too. The other school would have to be a member of
the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities which is a group of Jesuit
schools that work together through programs and the utilization of resources to
improve Jesuit learning. There are 28 participating Jesuit universities in the
organization, and USF is one of them.
In fact, the university
has experience with helping students in the nation who have suffered from a natural
disaster. After Hurricane Katrina occurred in 2005, USF volunteered to receive
130 students who were negatively impacted by the massive storm from Loyola
University of New Orleans which is another Jesuit school that is a member of
the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. Theoretically, USF could
send students to other Jesuit universities in the nation if the school suffered
immense damages as a result of a big earthquake.
Nevertheless, Giardini
expressed confidence that USF is well-prepared enough to not have to close its
doors after any earthquake. The school did well to survive Loma Prieta in 1989
with just minimal damages. USF dodged a bullet back then, and it hopes that it
will do the same when the next tremendous earthquake occurs in San Francisco.
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