Earthquake stops baseball, starts inspections

Kamila Crane, who earned a bachelor’s degree (1985) and master’s degree (1986) in civil engineering, was prepared to start rebuilding the Bay Area of California almost immediately after the Loma Linda earthquake of Oct. 17, 1989 — the same earthquake that interrupted the first game of that year’s baseball World Series. 

Crane worked in the bridge structures department of Sverdrup Corp. and was assigned to the California Department of Transportation in San Francisco at the time. She supervised falsework erection on the Cypress Freeway (I-880), which had partially collapsed on itself. The temporary supports that Crane helped install gave rescue workers the opportunity to search for survivors while preventing further collapse. 

Share This Story

Spark a Memory?

Share your story! Fill out the form below to share your fondest memory or anecdote of S&T. If you'd prefer not typing, you can also share by phone at 833-646-3715 (833-Miner150).

Once-in-a-lifetime cab ride

Once-in-a-lifetime cab ride

Tamerate Tadesse is a SCADA automation engineer but started his career as an airport taxi driver. “I like to talk…

He even has a spaceship named after him

He even has a spaceship named after him

In 1967, Farouk El-Baz, was appointed by NASA as secretary of lunar landing site selection and chairman of astronaut training…

Amanda (Gealy) and Logan Meyer

Amanda (Gealy) and Logan Meyer

Amanda (Gealy) and Logan Meyer met through mutual friends during St. Pat’s in 2010. Amanda earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees…

NIH’s first woman scientist

NIH’s first woman scientist

Dr. Ida Bengtson was the first woman the National Institutes of Health (NIH) hired as a scientist in 1916. For…

Stonehenge, ‘tis a magic place…’

Stonehenge, ‘tis a magic place…’

When the band Spinal Tap sang of Stonehenge as a “magic place … where the moon doth rise with a…

Samantha (Smith) and Andrew Keeven

Samantha (Smith) and Andrew Keeven

Although Samantha (Smith) and Andrew Keeven met thanks to mutual friends during St. Pat’s in 2014, they didn’t get to…