Sense of Foreboding

(Image from UC-Berkeley)

During the summer of 1989 the Bay Area experienced a swarm of small earthquakes that caused little damage. On October 17th the 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake struck and, according to Wikipedia, resulted in 63 deaths, 3,757 injuries, and about $6 billion of damage.

Although I've experienced many earthquakes in my 50 years living here, the 1989 experience has taught me to stop what I'm doing after a jolt to see if there's a bigger one coming. Fortunately that didn't happen after a series of shocks along the Hayward fault on Thursday.

It's been 158 years since the Hayward fault's last major temblor, a 6.8, and it's perhaps more "overdue" than the San Andreas fault that produced the great 1906 and 1989 quakes.

The Bay Area has escaped the natural disasters that have occurred in other parts of the State, but I am feeling a sense of foreboding based on nothing more than wondering how long both major faults will continue to be quiet. May we keep our go bags ready and our gas tanks full.