1989 Loma Prieta earthquake larger loss of life, as several of the Bay Area's major transportation structures suffered catastrophic failures. The collapse of a section of the double-deck Nimitz Freeway in Oakland was the site of the largest number of casualties for the event, but the collapse of man-made structures and other related accidents contributed to casualties occurring in San Francisco, Los Altos, and Santa Cruz. The history of earthquake investigations in California has been largely focused on the San Andreas Fault System, due to its strong influence in the state as the boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate; it
Loma Prieta Loma Prieta Loma Prieta (from Spanish "loma" -hill, "prieta" -dark) is high and is the highest peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Northern California. The peak is on private property about west of Morgan Hill in Santa Clara County. The dirt road to the summit is gated, but the tower maintainers generally do not mind hikers. From 1976 through 1990 amateur astronomer Donald Machholz set up his telescope an average of 120 times a year on the south slope of this mountain to search for comets. From this site he discovered three new comets that bear his name, including