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On October 17, 1989, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake occurred near Loma Prieta in the Santa
Cruz Mountains. Movement occurred along a 40-km segment of the San Andreas fault from
southwestof Los Gatos to north of San Juan Bautista. This slide set includes damage
in the more rural areas affected by the quake including: Boulder Creek, Aptos, Los
Gatos, San Jose, Scott's Valley, and Watsonville. The slides also depict earth cracks
and structural damage to homes in the Santa Cruz Mountains.Effects in Loma Prieta
Vicinity - On October 17, 1989, at 5:04 P.M. (PDT), a 7.1 magnitude earthquake occurred
near Loma Prieta in the Santa Cruz mountains, California. Movement occurred along
a 40-km segment of the San Andreas fault from southwest of Los Gatos to north of San
Juan Bautista. Measurements along Earth's surface after the earthquake show that the
Pacific plate moved 1.9 m to the northwest and 1.3 m upward over the North American
plate. The upward motion resulted from deformation of the plate boundary at the bend
in the San Andreas fault. At the surface, the fault motion was evident as a complexseries
of cracks and fractures. This earthquake was not unexpected. During the 1906 San Francisco
earthquake, there was only about one meter of movement on the Santa Cruz segment of
the San Andreas fault. Farther north in the San Francisco area, there was more than
2.5 m of movement. This indicated that all of thestrain had not been released in the
Santa Cruz segment in the 1906 earthquake so this segment was likely to break before
the northern segment. Thousands of landslides occurred throughout the area blocking
roads and highways, hampering rescue efforts and causing damage to structures. Landslides
were particularly prevalent in the Santa Cruz mountains, where they occur regularly
even without earthquakes. These slides resulted in at least two deaths. One slump
slide near Laurel took with it several dozen houses damaging them severely. Thirty
percent of the buildings in the Pacific Garden Mall in downtown Santa Cruz were damaged
severely by amplified ground shaking and ground deformation. The mall lies on unconsolidated
deposits. One hundred thirty buildings-many dating from the 19th Century-were damaged
in this historic section. Several hundred houses were either severely damaged or destroyed.
The worst ground shaking appeared to occur in the Santa Cruz Mountains close to the
epicenter. Many buildings were damaged or destroyed by ground cracking and shaking
and by landsliding. Scores of mountain homes were also destroyed. Initial damages
were estimated at $350 million in Santa Cruz. In Watsonville, two adjacent buildings
of a department store sustained extensive structural damage due to a weak first story,
insufficient shear reinforcement of the columns, and possible pounding of the two
structures. Recently constructed buildings with tilt-up walls performed well. At the
Stanford University campus, 30 miles northwest of the epicenter, 60 buildings sustained
varying degrees of damage, with an estimated repair cost of $160 million. Concrete
sidewalks and curbs were systematically fractured and buckled on northeast trending
streets throughout downtown Los Gatos. Hollister also experienced severe damage. Sand
boils appear in irrigated fields near Hollister. San Jose and Gilroy also reported
collapsed and damaged buildings. Boulder Creek, Redwood Estates, Los Gatos, Scott's
Valley, Santa Cruz, and Watsonville all experienced strong ground shaking and had
a high percentage of damaged structures. These towns were only 16 to 32 km from the
epicenter. The older structures in these towns were vulnerable for one or more of
the following reasons: deterioration of the structure, lack of ties to the foundation,
unreinforced masonry (brick or stone), lack of shear resistance in the ground floor,
pounding of adjacent structures, and timber diaphragms not tied to unreinforced masonry
walls, which allowed separation or pushing out of the walls. In the epicentral area
most of the damage resulted from the strong ground shaking and landsliding. Ground
shaking primarily affected unreinforced masonry structures, and was enhanced in areas
of fine-grained sand. Landslides occurred on steep slopes where ground shaking was
most severe.
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