San Francisco’s deadly fault

Press, 19 October 1989, Page 6

San Francisco’s deadly fault

NZPA-Reuter San Francisco San Francisco, one of America’s most beautiful cities, with its elegant seascape and temperate climate, is also one of the deadliest, with the unstable San Andreas fault running alongside it The fault is the biggest fracture anywhere in the Earth’s crust. Severe quakes have hit San Francisco as far back as 1869 and one in 1906 almost finished the city. Those who live in the city’s splendour know they are taking their chances and it was no surprise when disaster hit again yesterday. A quake registering 6.9 on the Richter scale collapsed a span of a bridge crowded with rush hour traffic and forced the

of nearly 50,000 people from the baseball World Series championship. Buildings collapsed, gas explosions were set off and fires raged after the quake struck where nearly two million people live. ■' n ■ The quake, which hit this city known for its roller-coaster streets and archaic trollies, was more than 30 times greater than the one that hit the Bay area in June, 1988. That disturbance caused skyscrapers to sway and groceries to fall from supermarket shelves. Like the 1988 quake, yesterday’s hit along the San Andreas fault. But it was much The 1988. quake registered between 5.0 and 5.7 on the scale. Earthquakes rated 5.0 or

higher are considered capable of causing moderate damage. But the nature of the scale means a 6.0 earthquake would release 30 times the energy of a 5.0 and can cause building collapse and loss of life. Geologists say an earthquake that registers 7.0 to 7.9 can cause widespread heavy damage and casualties: A quake of 8.0 and above is capable of tremendous damage. San Francisco, a haven for trendi-setting cuisine, opera and theatre, is among the most European of the’ American cities and one of the most Mediterranean. Italians have remained the dominant European minority, followed by German, Irish and In addition, San Francisco’s

Chinatown is said to be the largest Chinese community outside Asia. San Francisco, known as the city of the gold prospecting “’49ers,” became the premier western United States city during the 1848-1849 gold rush and it remains a big port and the financial and administrative capital of the West Coast. ; While San Francisco is a large city, travel by car from its commuter cities, is difficult — particularly at rush hour when the city is enveloped in smog. -• Travel from Oakland and Berkeley and from Marin County to the north is over two overburdened bridges — the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge.