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 for a rain delay situation, while attempting to restore electricity to its remote equipment. With anchorman Ted Koppel in position in Washington, D.C., ABC News began continuous coverage of the quake at about 17:40 PDT, at the same time as CBS News; Al Michaels, in the process, became a de facto on-site reporter for ABC. NBC News also began continuous coverage, with Tom Brokaw, about an hour later. The Goodyear blimp had already been overhead to cover the baseball game, and ABC used it to capture images of damage to the Bay Bridge and other locations. Inside Candlestick Park, fewer