When Principal Peter Alvarez got an urgent message – a ShakeAlert – on his phone, he raced to his doorway and gripped the wood frame tightly.
“I went old school,” he said. “I went to the door frame, because when we were kids we were told that’s one of the safer places to go if an earthquake happens.” Most of Campolindo had the opposite reaction, and ignored it. That has Mr. Alvarez and other administrators concerned.
The message that went out on the morning of October 18 warned: “Drop, Cover, Hold On. Protect Yourself.”
It was broadcast via text message to about 390,000 people across the East Bay and was the first time that residents of Northern California had received a real-time earthquake alert on their phones.
This earthquake, whose epicenter was outside of Sacramento in Isleton, came one day after the 34th anniversary of the infamous Loma Prieta Earthquake. The shaking from that 1989 earthquake killed 63 people and left more than 3,700 injured, causing more than $6 billion damage across the Bay Area. It also disrupted the ongoing World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A’s.
Senior Shane Harris, like many students, said he did not care about the alert. Senior Owen Fitzmaurice didn’t notice anyone that was worried by the alert. “I don’t know anyone that did anything,” he said.
“If anyone did anything they’re a dork,” said Harris. He was only half joking. That seemed to be the attitude of many at Campo towards the alert.
Many were confused. “I thought it was an Amber Alert,” added Harris. But seismologists in California say we should all be very concerned about earthquakes because the “Big One” is overdue.
Alvarez, who was a student at Justin-Siena High School in Napa at the time of the Loma Prieta, remembers being at football practice and was taking a knee as his coach spoke when the earthquake occurred. “I started to see cars bounce across the parking lot,” he said. “The earthquake made the World Series and the A’s sweep a little less joyous. It was pretty tragic.”
One of the first assistant principals that Alvarez worked with lost his sister in the Loma Prieta quake. “He would always remind us of the importance of earthquake drills and safety,” Alvarez said.
Coincidentally, the earthquake alert came as science teacher Tren Kauzer was talking about the Hayward Fault to his AP Environmental Science class. “A bunch of students asked if I had planned it,” said Kauzer. “It was a complete coincidence. Nobody can plan an earthquake.”
