In the heart of San Francisco, where the iconic Golden Gate Bridge spans across the bay and hills are filled with colorful Victorian houses, lies a city that has weathered its fair share of storms.
But nothing could prepare Bay Area residents for the devastation that would strike that fateful day on October 17, 1989—the day the earth shook.
It began like any other Tuesday in October. The sun cast its warm glow over the city as people went about their daily routines, unaware of the chaos that lay just beneath the surface.
Deep within the Earth, tectonic plates were shifting, building pressure with each passing moment.
And then, without warning, it happened. At 5:04 p.m., the ground began to tremble, sending shockwaves rippling throughout the Bay Area.
Buildings swayed, streets buckled, and the unmistakable sound of shattering glass filled the air.
It was the Loma Prieta earthquake — a seismic event measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale — that would leave an indelible mark on San Francisco and its surrounding cities.
During the quake, San José State student journalists from the Spartan Daily came together to produce a newspaper despite the chaos and destruction caused by the disaster.
Shelby Grad, a former executive editor, said he and the rest of the staff got under the desks and proceeded to go outside after the shaking stopped.
“Oh my god, there's a catastrophe because of all the smoke right there. Turned out an old brick-like wall had fallen a few blocks away,” Grad said.
Chaos ensued and people scrambled for safety while their minds raced with fear and uncertainty.
Grad and his staff knew this was a breaking news story that needed to be covered.
“Once we got our bearings around though, we had to put out the paper tomorrow but we didn't have a place to do it. The whole campus was evacuated,” Grad said.
On October 18, 1989, the Spartan Daily released Volume 93, No.33 with a front-page breaking news story titled “7.0 quake rattles state; SJSU closed for day.”
Gradsaid Mack Lundstrom, the advisor of the Spartan Daily, decided to host the staff and produce the paper at his house.
“We all went to his house in Willow Glen, and we all got together using some kind of word processing,” Grad said.
This allowed Grad and his staff to put out a four-page paper that same night.
“It was what we put together all night while his [Lundstrom] wife made us some spaghetti, then we found a printer at San José City College, so we kind of worked all night.” Grad said.
Despite the stress and anxiety a natural disaster brings, Grad said he has great memories with the staff on the day of the 6.9 earthquake.
He said, “It was very, very fun, and the staff really came together, and there was this incredible sense of mission.”
Dan Nakaso, an advisor for the Spartan Daily in 1989, said it's a long tradition in newspapers to help each other out when there's a problem.
“City College helped us publish. I can't remember how many papers we printed. But the idea is that you just get something out.” Nakaso said.
He said the last thing they wanted to do was not publish, despite the lack of resources following the campus-wide evacuation.
“I was trying to teach the students, big story, but we got to publish, it's part of newspaper history, right? You just do whatever it takes.” Nakaso said.
Sujata Krishnan had just been admitted to San José State as a graduate student at the time, and while she was excited to embark on new adventures in the city of San José.
Krishnan said she recalls the Loma Prieta earthquake as if it happened yesterday.
“I was home alone, upstairs in my bedroom. Interestingly, I had just quit my job a day before. And I never went to work the day of the earthquake.” she said.
Krishnan said she was writing a letter to her mom explaining she had been admitted to SJSU and therefore quit her day job.
“I was in the middle of my liberation when all of a sudden, everything shook.” said Krishnan, “I caught panic. ‘ What do I do now? The shaking isn't going away.’ ”
Krishnan said everybody who lives in the Bay Area has to be mindful of the risks involved, be alert, and always try to keep an emergency bag.
“You should be aware of all your exit routes, where you are, you should know how to get out safely and the basic precautions,” said Krishnan.
