Actually you are Wrong, I am assuming you are talking about the 1989 Earthquake. The Epicenter was in the Santa Cruz Mountains near Loma Prieta. That is about 56 miles south of San Francisco. And Oakland and Berkley had major Damage, The Double Decker Freeway that collaps was caused the greatest loss of life was between Berkley and Oakland. Actually the towns of Watsonville and Santa Cruz sustained greater damage then S.F. did, but as the TV stations wer ein San Francisco it got more coverage. I live in Los Gatos which is about 15 miles from the epicenter and my house recieve no damage. Damage is more dependant on what type of soil you are on not distance from the epicenter. I lived in the foothills with shallow clay soil on Bedrock. The areas most damaged were built on fill that used to be a part of San Francisco Bay. The ironic part is that the North beach neighborhodd is San Francisco that was the most damaged was built on fill that was bulldozed into the Bay in 1909. It was the rubble from the 1908 Earthquake and Fire.