There are two things that I remember about third grade at Tahoe Lake School. First and foremost was my short-lived career as a rock star. By rock star, I mean I was a member of a band of four kids that sang and played air guitar and air drums to our favorite band, The Monkees. We belted out such hits as ‘Then I saw her face…now I’m a believer.’ We were awesome, or at least we thought we were…but I digress. The other thing I remember about third grade was the Truckee earthquake. It struck at 9:41 a.m. on September 12, 1966, and measured an impressive 6.0 on the Richter scale.
Our 1966 quake was small potatoes compared to the one that shook the Bay Area in 1989, just as the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A’s were about to open the World Series. That powerful tremor killed over 50 people and caused billions of dollars in damage. But for those of us who lived here, the Truckee earthquake was a pretty big deal.
Centered just west of Boca Reservoir, the quake caused minor damage to the Prosser and Boca Dams, and set off numerous rockslides all over the region. Boulders and debris fell onto the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks, shutting down train travel for several days. Two bridges along Interstate 80 were damaged, and the highway was littered with immense rocks. A very hefty boulder came crashing down a steep slope above the Truckee River, leaving a huge hole in the side of the reinforced concrete Farad powerhouse building. In Truckee, merchandise fell off store shelves, and minor damage was reported all over town. Water lines ruptured, and for several days after the event, Truckee residents were treated to muddy water emerging from their taps. In Reno, a fire station sustained major damage and was out of service for a month, while a crane operator was thrown from his machine while building the Arlington Towers downtown. In far-away Carson City, the Nevada State capital building was damaged.
Back at Tahoe Lake School, the teacher was probably yelling at us to get under our desks, but I don’t remember getting around to it before the quake had stopped. Over the next several days we spent a lot of time practicing desk diving so we would be prepared when the next big one hit. All this preparation only served to convince us that we were doomed, and soon would be buried, horribly disfigured, under a pile of rubble. At the other end of Tahoe Lake School, my brother remembers, ‘It was the most violent earthquake I have ever been in, and I was in Monterey when the ‘89 quake hit the bay. The building shook like mad and we all dove under our desks.’ (Sounds like those much more mature sixth graders were better desk divers than I was. I must have been daydreaming about my music career. Or perhaps I had seen her face and was now a believer).
My three older sisters were all at Tahoe Truckee High School, which was much closer to the epicenter of the quake. (North Tahoe High School would not be built until 1974; before then everyone in North Tahoe and Truckee attended TNT, which stood for Tahoe N Truckee. Hard to believe with the current high school rivalry between the Red and Blue that once we were all Red.) TNT experienced broken light fixtures, falling glass, and a lot of frayed nerves during the quake. My sister Mary remembers her teacher ‘sitting on a table swinging his feet back and forth, pontificating on whatever he was pontificating on, when the earthquake happened. He panicked and screamed, ‘Get under the desk, get under the desk’ in a high voice as he fell off the table. We were all laughing hysterically.’ Mary’s boyfriend at the time – and now husband of 35 years – remembers ditching school for the day ‘which was too bad for him because we all got to go home anyway,’ Mary said.
My sister Julie definitely remembers that day. ‘We all had to get under our desks, and the hanging fluorescent lights fell to the floor in some of the rooms. It was quite a big deal.’ My oldest sister Susie’s first thought when the earthquake hit was ‘I am only 17 and this is it!’ Her next thought was that maybe it was a bomb.
Mark Sullivan, now a ski coach in Squaw Valley and a TNT sophomore at the time, recalls looking out the window during the quake to see the road in front of the school rippling in waves. Once the temblor had passed, the students were led to the lower field where they stood around waiting anxiously before the decision was made to send everyone home. ‘We got out of school for a couple days: that was pretty cool,’ Mark said. While the students were enjoying a few days off, inspectors came in to check out the school. Apparently they missed a spot. When Sullivan returned, his teacher asked him to open up a large window. As soon as he did, the pane of glass above dropped down like a guillotine, breaking two bones in Mark’s arm. This might have been the only major injury caused by the quake.
It’s been over 40 years since the Truckee earthquake shook the community, but to those who experienced the violent shaking, the events of that day seem as though they happened yesterday. Given all the growth that the Tahoe and Truckee areas have experienced since 1966, it would be interesting to see how our communities would fare in a similar event today. I know one thing: I will remember to get under my desk.
~ Tim Hauserman grew up in Tahoe City. His books include ‘Cross-Country Skiing in the Sierra Nevada’ and ‘Monsters in the Woods: Backpacking with Children.’
