The Loma Prieta Earthquake: Impact on Lifeline Systems -
Published on Monday, October 29, 2007 - Written by Dames and
MooreÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Earthquake Engineering Group The estimated
damages qualify this event, known as the Loma Prieta Earthquake,
as one of the most costly natural disasters that the United
States has experienced. From this perspective, the earthquake
could be classified as the “Big One.” However, this was not the
catastrophic earthquake that many have predicted would occur. In
fact, the energy associated with the Loma Prieta Earthquake was
30 times less than that associated with the earthquake that
devastated San Francisco in 1906. The earthquake occurred along
a portion of the San Andreas fault zone referred to as the
Southern Santa Cruz Mountains segment. The U.S. Geological
Survey has commented that rupture of this segment of the San
Andreas fault has not affected their assessment that there
remains a 50 percent chance that one or more magnitude 7.0
earthquakes will occur in the San Francisco Bay