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1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake

Seismology

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The Loma Prieta earthquake struck the Central Coast of California on October 17, 1989, centered in the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz County, about 10 miles northeast of Santa Cruz on the San Andreas Fault System, and named for nearby Loma Prieta Peak. The magnitude 6.9 shock reached a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of IX and caused 63 deaths and 3,757 injuries. The segment of the fault that ruptured had been relatively quiet since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, aside from two moderate foreshocks in 1988 and 1989.

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