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1989 Loma Prieta
San Francisco Marina District
 Twenty-six fires occurred in San Francisco as a
result of the earthquake.
In the Marina District, hydrants lacked adequate
pressure and volume due to water main breakage.
Water in the bay was inaccessible to fire engines.
The Fire Boat Phoenix pumped into some water
mains.
Marina District
Auxiliary Water Supply System
Water From the Bay
Community Internet Intensity Map for Loma Prieta (OCT 17, 1989)
1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake
The earthquake shook for 15 seconds and resulted
in at least 67 deaths from direct earthquake
causes, and 3,757 injuries.
More than 12,000 left homeless
Property damage in excess of $10 billion
throughout the affected zone.
Data according to the California Office of Emergency Services.
From 5:04 p.m. October 17 to midnight October 19, 36 fires involving structures were
reported to the San Francisco Fire Department. Of these, 34 fires were directly or
indirectly attributable to the earthquake and subsequent aftershocks.
The electric supply was lost to most of San Francisco.
Initially, failure of electric service may have been beneficial in reducing the number of
potential fires because of the loss of an ignition source for hundreds of PG&E gas leaks.
As anticipated, natural gas was responsible for some of the fires following this
earthquake.
An estimated 500 dispatches were transmitted by midnight of October 17 of which 80
percent were investigations of natural gas odors.
Fire losses from causes due to earthquake are in excess of $10 million.
Total property Damage: $5,900,000,000. At the time, this was the most costly natural
disaster in the United States.
Data from Berkeley Seismological Lab.
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