I Was One of the Lucky Ones

In San Francisco, California, the Loma Prieta earthquake caused extensive damage to homes, cars and other personal property.

Damage to a building from the loma Prieta Earthquake.

October 17, 2024

Santa Cruz county resident, mental health professional and longtime Red Cross volunteer Jill Hoffman recounts her Loma Prieta earthquake experience 35 years later, including what she’s learned about earthquake safety.

I have been a volunteer in Santa Cruz since 1980 and was part of the Loma Prieta Earthquake Red Cross response in 1989.

I was at work with clients at 5:01p.m. on Oct. 17, 1989 when the earthquake struck; I thought we were being bombed, the noise and shaking were so severe. We were just six miles from epicenter. I remember saying very quietly and calmly “door frame! door frame!” (We know now not to do that, and instead to drop to the floor, cover yourself with something sturdy like a table, and hold on until the shaking stops. Doorways are not any more structurally sound than elsewhere in a building and not a safe place to go to during an earthquake.)

Collapsed roadways were a common sight after the earthquake. Photo credit: U.S.G.S.

I thought we were being bombed, the noise and shaking were so severe.

I was one of the lucky ones in that I had no major damage to my home, just books falling off shelves and glass breaking. My boss at the County Mental Health Services (CMHS) came by about an hour and a half after the earthquake via bicycle instead of her car since the route to my neighborhood was no longer drivable. We immediately joined the team working at a disaster shelter at the Civic Center in downtown Santa Cruz.

I wore two hats during most of the response: I volunteered at the shelter and did community outreach for Red Cross. Within a few weeks, I assumed the role of the Clinical Mental Health Director for a FEMA grant, a position which was extended to 18 months. We saw 25,000 people during that time.

A washed out road in Santa Cruz county. Photo credit: U.S.G.S.

In Santa Cruz county, (the epicenter of the earthquake) CMHS led the long term mental health care response, taking over from the Red Cross. FEMA hired six full time and 34 contracted mental health care workers.

I met with the couple I had been seeing that day about five weeks later and they said “Jill! You were so wonderful; you were yelling at the top of your lungs “Door frame! Door frame!” So much for my perception of the event at the time.

When we had an aftershock 6 months later, I had I had the flight vs. fight response and bolted out of my chair at a restaurant and stared running before my colleague stopped me.”

Thank you, Jill, for sharing your story, your service then, and your continued service now. To learn more about disaster preparedness, including how to be prepared for an earthquake, visit https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies.html.