Quake Left Valley All Shook Up, But Not Shut Down
 
Microbytes Daily News Service
Copyright (c) 1989, McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Television news reporters called it "the San Francisco
earthquake" -- a major tremor that caused fires and collapsed
freeways in San Francisco and nearby Oakland, CA. Ironically,
nobody called it the "Silicon Valley earthquake," even though the
northern California computer belt was much closer to the quake's
center.
 
But while San Francisco and Oakland suffered damage that may take
months to repair, Silicon Valley survived with relatively minor
damage, and most area companies are reporting delays, not
destruction.
 
The earthquake, which registered 7.0 on the Richter scale, was
centered about 30 miles south of San Jose. Companies with major
facilities within 50 miles of the quake include Apple, Borland,
Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, NeXT, and hundreds of others. They
all lost electrical power and telephone service at 5:04 PM last
Tuesday, when the temblor rolled through the Valley. But by the
end of the week, electricity had been restored for most
companies, though telephone service was still irregular.
 
While San Francisco and Oakland reported fires and freeway
damage, the physical effects of the quake on Silicon Valley
were not as severe. Most buildings in Silicon Valley (especially
those that house high-technology companies) are relatively new,
and specifically designed and built to survive earthquakes, which
are common in northern California.
 
Most buildings showed little apparent damage the morning after
the quake. Immediately after the quake, many computer company
facilities were evacuated for engineers to check for structural
damage; by the next morning, most were available for business.
Virtually all major highways were usable the morning after, just
in time for rush hour.
 
Several large companies played it safe, advising their employees
not to come in for a day or two after the quake, including Apple,
Hewlett-Packard, and IBM. (By Friday, Apple had called its
staffers back to work. However, late reports reaching BYTEWeek
indicated that Apple's engineering facilities had taken some hits
and that some buildings were flooded.) Other companies, including
Fujitsu, asked their people to come in, then sent them home after
a short time. But a technical writer at small startup Poqet
Computer said about 60 percent of Poqet's employees were at work
the day after the quake.
 
The quake clearly did not shut down Silicon Valley, but it's not
business as usual, either. Although there was virtually no damage
to high-tech commercial buildings, many Silicon Valley executives
and key personnel live in the Santa Clara and Santa Cruz
mountains south of Silicon Valley -- and closer to the epicenter
of the quake. California State Highway 17, the main artery
through those hills, and all other major roads leading south from
the Valley were impassible for several days because roads had
buckled or were blocked by debris.
 
As a result, employees at several companies told BYTEWeek they
expect to miss deadlines because of the quake, although no one
had a clear sense of how long decision and design processes would
be hobbled. Fortunately, though damage to some buildings in the
Santa Cruz mountains was severe, the death toll there was
relatively small.
 
Damage to Silicon Valley is slight. ("Slight" is a relative term;
estimates of total damage to the area, including residential
buildings, were running at $50 million late last week. That's
compared to the total bill for damage from the quake:
$2 billion.) Some Silicon Valley employees we talked to even
described the media coverage as overblown. In the cases of San
Francisco and Oakland, we don't think it was, but it's good news
that high-tech workers were ready to go back to work the next
day.
 
Some companies weren't so lucky. Borland is located in Scotts
Valley, about five miles from the epicenter, where damage was at
its greatest; it's hard to guess how long it will be before
things are back to normal there. And at other companies, the
quake may have caused small, almost undetectable problems that
won't show up for weeks or months.
 
But Silicon Valley knows it doesn't have much time for delays.
With Comdex coming in less than a month, many of the smaller
companies in the Valley are rushing to finish products to display
at the show. Others have an even earlier deadline: UnixExpo in
New York on November 1. There were no guarantees these companies
would meet the deadlines before the earthquake hit; meeting them
now will be even tougher.
 
Most company executives declined comment, or simply weren't
there, when we asked about the likely impact of the quake on
business, but one marketing manager told us the day after the
quake, "I think a lot of people don't know what else to do with
themselves. My house isn't damaged; should I go in to work? I
went in to work today, and I know I'll be going in to work
tomorrow and Friday."
 
                              --- BYTEWeek Staff
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
