I was 90 km from the epicenter and saw my level12 acres roll with a thundering sound. Two hours earlier my wife was riding our horses with a friend on a delta levee and on there way back my horse kneeled down on all fours and wouldn’t get up. She thought she hurt him and it took them 15 minutes to get him up. The other horse did nothing and my horse never did anything like that again. Maybe it was a coincidence but two hours later the earthquake.

I had appointments in San Francisco and Oakland days later and what I remember the most was the smell of concrete from the collapsed freeway, the third story of houses at ground level and the liquefaction at Treasure Island.

Although SF was 80 km from the epicenter (which instantly raised a mountain's elevation) the damage was wide spread. A lot depends on the type of slip along with the depth. A 7 point earthquake has 10 times more shaking than a 8 point but the energy is 32 times stronger.