Empress Theatre (California) repainted and the "Empress Theatre" sign was painted into the pediment. Its window panels were uncovered and refurbished, seats from Fox Theatres were salvaged and installed, gypsum decoration was re-gilded, and period-appropriate carpeting was laid. The Empress thrived throughout the decade. 1989 On Tuesday October 17, the Loma Prieta earthquake, measuring 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale, shook the San Francisco Bay Area; the Empress Theatre was not spared. To repair damage from the quake and make the building seismically safe for use was a task so monumental that it caused the theatre to sit vacant and derelict for nearly
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake Gatos, and other light damage in Holy City, where increased flow was observed at a water well. Farther away from the Santa Cruz Mountains, pieces of concrete fell from a parking structure at the Sunnyvale Town Center, a two-level shopping mall in Santa Clara County. More moderate damage resulted from the August 8, 1989, shock (intensity VII, "Very strong") when chimneys were toppled in Cupertino, Los Gatos, and Redwood Estates. Other damage included cracked walls and foundations and broken underground pipes. At the office of the Los Gatos City Manager, a window that was cracked had also been broken in