I was riding the 14-Mission during Loma Prieta

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loma prieta earthquake. by joe lewis
Photo by Joe Lewis

Of all the days you could get on the wrong bus, Karla Milosevich accidentally got on an express on Oct. 17, 1989, the day that the big one hit. Today is the 25th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake, and the website Earthquake Weather has been gathering stories about the quake. Here’s Karla’s:

I was working a temp job on the 12th floor of a downtown office on Spear Street, and had just gotten off work. I caught the 14 Mission bus to go to the café on Valencia Street where my sister worked, but accidentally boarded the express one, which was headed towards Daly City. I couldn’t get off before the freeway so I was standing in the crowded bus, holding the rail over my head, looking out the window and lamenting how much longer it was going to take me to get home.

We were stopped, waiting for a light, and then the bus kind of rolled and it sounded like metal on metal, I figured we were having an accident on the side I couldn’t see. It seemed like a car was scraping against the bus. But then I could also see a guy who had been asleep in his car– he woke up and was all startled. I was wondering about the connection because his car wasn’t touching the bus, then people started saying “Earthquake”, “That was an earthquake!”

We sat there for a few minutes, then got on the freeway anyway, business as usual. I got off as soon as I could, in the way outer Mission. Around then, all the buses stopped running, so there was no way to get back. This was before cell phones, so I started walking to the Mission. As it happened, this guy I know, Dave Cohen, happened to be driving by and gave me a ride home. That was pretty lucky! That’s when I started to hear about how much damage there was.

Were you on Muni during the ’89 earthquake? Tell your story to 1989Quake.com.

Category: WTF: Weirdness on Muni Tags:

I was on the 54-Felton during the 1989 earthquake

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jenifer wofford muni illustration
Illustration by Jenifer Wofford

Do you remember where you were when the big one hit in 1989? Tomorrow is the 25th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake, and Jenifer Wofford
of Earthquake Weather has been gathering stories about the quake. Stories on her site are accompanied by her wonderful illustrations such as the one above. San Franciscan Gabe Wachob happened to be riding the 54-Felton that fateful evening. Here’s his story.

On the evening of Oct 17, 1989, I was a 16 year old senior at Lick-Wilmerding High School. When the earthquake hit, I was on the 54 Felton on my way home after a late day at school (why I was going home at 5, I don’t remember). It was a normal day, except abnormally hot as we all know, except about 2 minutes after we crossed Mission (on Persia), while at a stop, someone started trying to tip the old bus over. Or so we thought. It was a strange experience – those old diesel buses were not exactly lightweight… When I looked up (during the shaking) I saw “standing waves” in the electricity lines above. I knew it was an earthquake.

The bus continued on the route – I don’t think we knew the magnitude of what had happened. It was clear, as we continued on, that it was a serious event, however. Driving through a part of town with 2 story stucco-d houses with garages on the first floor, we could see big cracks in the stucco around almost every garage.
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Veteran Muni driver killed by waves in Marin

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38-geary-dark
Photo by Tito Perez

Jimmy Chiu drove for Muni for more than 30 years. Last weekend, Chiu, who loved to fish, was swept away and killed by a “sneaker wave” on the Marin coast.

KTVU has the story.

Fishing didn’t always bring joy. When the 61-year old Chiu was 8-years old, living in Communist China, he used to fish to put food on the table for his family.

“He swore he would never fish again,” said the younger Chiu. Years later, Chiu was looking forward to fishing in his retirement.

“That’s what he loved to do,” his son explained.

Chiu was getting ready to retire after 31-years as a Muni driver on the 38-Geary line.

“His coworkers deeply miss him for his smile and just his disposition,” said Muni supervisor, Ayn Antonio. “He had a very level headed disposition.”

Read the whole story at KTVU. We offer our condolences to Chiu’s family.

If you knew Chiu from his routes, let us know in comments, please.

Category: News

Head-scratching things overheard on Muni

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things26
Photo by Lynn Friedman

It’s not just smells, anger, and despair. Muni is also a roving audio laboratory, much to the delight and chagrin of us all.

These fellow Muni riders clued us in some things they overheard on Muni this week:

  • OH on Muni: “My cheek is sweating up my cellphone screen”
  • [on the J] Guy on phone: Yes but he’s vegan and I’m not very vegan-friendly.
  • Overheard at the #Muni stop: THIS IS THE LIVING WAGE!
  • OH: and he was programming on a go cart-he’s that badass, oh and he has a masters too. never forgetting headphones again

All righty then.

This week’s Things on Muni is brought to you by @larrybobsf, @OHinSFbyGrace, @jessicatzz, and @BrittNuffsaid.

Category: Funny: Muni LOLs Tags:
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