10/18/89
I was awakened at around 7:30 [a.m.] by the phone. It was Dad, wanting to know if we were all right. He had heard that 270 people were killed, and that the quake was as strong as the one that had hit Armenia. I couldn't believe it. There were so many thousands dead in Armenia. I didn't think building codes could do so much for us. I told Dad to call the rest of the family for us, and we called Joel's mother, this time getting through. She was very worried about Joel's godparents, who lived around Santa Cruz, so we tried to call them, but were unable to get through. I did reach Paul and Andrew, and sent email out to Dad and Carey that everyone had been contacted and was OK.
That morning's paper seemed to be saying that this quake either was the big one or released enough pressure that the big one was about thirty years away, which increased my relief that we had gotten off so lightly. Unfortunately, I have heard since that that is not true, and that the big one is still to come.
After reading the paper, I spent the morning moving boxes of china so that they were on the floor instead of in stacks (in case of aftershock), moving things in cupboards toward the back and firmly latching cupboard doors, and cleaning up the broken glass. At times I briefly felt (and still feel) the earth shaking; I think it is mostly psychological, though there are some aftershocks. Shortly after noon, I called Urban Ministry to see if they needed my help. The RV, the office, and the shelter all came through fine (though the people in the shelter were without power during the night), and they didn't need any help.
Many people stayed home from SRI, and SRI arranged a charge number to use for time off due to the earthquake and for earthquake cleanup. Joel's company was less generous, and docked some workers who were afraid to go into the building after the earthquake. There were few reference calls, perhaps because the phone lines in were still jammed (or maybe some people remembered that we were in the earthquake zone and decided to give us a break). I got only one call on my shift, a woman in Hawaii who apologized for calling after I told her that the people she needed to speak to had either gone home for the day, "or maybe didn't come in at all, because we had an earthquake yesterday." (I had her send us email. ) There was no progress in cleaning up the books in the library. The few people who were in were busy getting out a proposal. Toward the end of my shift, I made a mailing list of my friends and sent email to let them know I was alive.
My UC Berkeley Extension course met as usual.
10/19/89
The morning paper was full of stories and heroism and generous volunteers. Feeling a little guilty that I hadn't volunteered for anything yet, I called the blood bank at Stanford, the Red Cross, and the Salvation Army. All lines were busy. I spent the morning putting things away and washing clothes. Joel's godparents still could not be reached....
Work was normal (except that SRI still looks like a mess), but the system was a little unstable. It went down in the evening for a scheduled PM and a disk check, and has been stable since then.
10/20/89
Had to drive Joel to work because his eye was irritated from something which had been in it all night. Since I had the car, I went by Stanford to see the damage there. Nothing seems to have fallen down, but many buildings are roped off, with entry either forbidden or restricted. Classes are meeting, but hundreds of students are homeless, sleeping in lounges or with friends. Synergy, where I used to live, and Columbae, where I often ate lunch, are among the houses evacuated. Columbae has cracks at all the windows; I didn't have time to drive up to Synergy. The Geology building is still unsafe. Hoover (both the tower and the archivcs), Green, and Meyer are closed (Meyer probably for some time, as I am told it was declared structurally unsound after the quake). Rumor has it that Hoover may be closed for some time due to asbestos. I hope that all of the documents survive. I remember a document I saw when I was there looking at the archives, one about an Armenian leader, in Ottoman Turkish, which I had hoped to have translated for me by a Turkish friend. It was so fragile I didn't dare to open it after taking it out of its case, for fear of damaging it. Perhaps the cases protected them. If not, they can't be replaced.
There was a table at Tressider with earthquake information, an up-to-date list of closed and restricted buildings, and a sign-up sheet for volunteers. I asked where volunteers were needed. They said people were needed to reshelve books in the library and to usher at the 49ers game on Sunday. With my knees, the standing involved in ushering for the 49ers game was certainly out of the question. I went to the law library and stacked books on carts for reshelving and cleaned shelves for an hour. Several other people were volunteering there, I think mostly law students.
Which brings me up to now. I am at work, all systems are running fine (except the Vax, which is possibly dead for good, but we were getting rid of it anyway), and, despite unsightly cracks, the building I am in has been declared structurally sound. The books in the library still need to be shelved, and I have no idea when that will be done, but otherwise things seem to be back to normal.
The California Reader
http://www.notfrisco.com/calmem/index.html