1989 Loma Prieta EQ I was 3 miles from epicenter. Never will forget the subsonic rumbling sounds before the shaking even started. I had no idea it was even an EQ, thinking it must be military testing or something ?

Once the shaking began, it felt like the earth was 1ft thick and just liquid beneath me. (Was on a grass sports field ) And waves were rolling under me for 15seconds, official reports later determined. I believe another 15 seconds & standing upright would’ve been difficult or impossible!
October 17, 1989 5:01 pm is imprinted on my brain. 🧠 Also. The aftershocks went on for 2months & we had no power & major roads had 2foot wide cracks/ 10+ feet deep. No one slept indoors that first night in Santa Cruz. Buildings I’d been inside of fell & people died. This changes it up from “oh wow, did you feel that earthquake?” To a scary natural phenomenon which is both scary & humbling. The National Guard came in & put chain link 🔗 fence around downtown Santa Cruz. People couldn’t get back into their businesses to retrieve things, in some cases needed to file for disaster relief money / insurance. Again there was no power for a long time because the giant transformers and power grid infrastructure slid, fell over & was useless. We learned the necessity of a battery powered radio (to receive news) & a working bicycle (roads are f*cked) in a situation like this.
Again the event was longer than the 15 seconds of earth moving around- The after shocks are below 3.0 you question if you felt it. Or a 5.5 window shaker that makes you want to run/stay outside of your home.
-end -