Tuesday’s magnitude-5.6 earthquake was the Bay Area’s largest
since the Loma Prieta temblor of 1989, but downtown business owners
said their establishments were unharmed.
Tuesday’s magnitude-5.6 earthquake was the Bay Area’s largest since the Loma Prieta temblor of 1989, but downtown business owners said their establishments were unharmed.
“It shook up some loose plaster … in four or five places, but that was about it,” said Julia Otis, co-owner of the Broken Wing. “It didn’t get any of the glass or alcohol, and that’s the important thing.”
Bill Mifsud Jr., owner of the sports memorabilia and comic book store Bill’s Bullpen, had a similar report. Some baseball hats and comic storage boxes fell down, Mifsud said, but the store itself is undamaged.
“We were just closing, and there was still one customer in the store,” Mifsud said. “I told him, ‘Well, there’s the door. You might want to head out.'”
The rest of the city appears to be mostly unscathed, too, said code enforcement officer Mike Chambless. Any serious damage should be reported to Hollister’s Building Department, and the city hadn’t received any reports as of Wednesday afternoon, Chambless said.
Hollister didn’t get off as lightly in the Loma Prieta quake, which devastated much of the city, including downtown. Mifsud noted that the original Bill’s Bullpen was destroyed and the lot it shared with the several other businesses at the intersection of Fourth and San Benito streets remains a grassy field.
“Eighteen years later, there’s still nothing there,” Mifsud said.
In addition from shaking up buildings and furniture, some business owners said the quake startled their customers, too.
‘It kind of shook up the dart players a little, but they just moved on,” said Charisse Tyson, owner of Johnny’s Bar and Grill. “This place is solid as a rock. It held up real well, even in ’89.”
