1989 Loma Prieta earthquake occurred in Northern California on October 17 at local time ( 1989-10-18 00:04 UTC ) . The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park approximately northeast of Santa Cruz on a section of the San Andreas Fault System and was named for the nearby Loma Prieta Peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains . With an magnitude of 6.9 and a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of IX ( '' Violent '' ) , the shock was responsible for 63 deaths and 3,757 injuries . The Loma Prieta segment of the San Andreas Fault System had been relatively inactive since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake ( to the degree that it was designated a seismic gap ) until two moderate foreshocks occurred in June 1988 and again in August 1989
1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake