Re: Recollecting the March 22, 1957 5.3 Earthquake

03/20/07 - posted by Anne

Remembering the 1957 earthquake, I was 18 years old, working in a tall building near Bush and Market. I remember the loud rumble, thinking the world was coming to an end, then the shaking. It was a large room with four desks and we just sat there waiting. One woman who was born in Japan, just kept walking around doing her office tasks as though nothing had happened. We heard that the elevators on the upper floors were shaking so much they were slamming into the sides of the elevator shaft. We also heard that desks on some of the upper floor actually slid around. I remember calling my mother to see how our house made out near Mt. Davidson. She said we had no damage. I remember feeling scared mostly at the big rumbling sound that came just before the shaking started.