Volume 1 .... Number 14
SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE KILLS 200
.... 7.0 on the Richter scale ....
The largest earthquake to hit San Francisco
in 83 years
killed at least 200 people, many trapped between collapsed
freeways.
Although epicenter of the earthquake hit
Santa Cruz at
5:04 PM, Pacific Time (8:04 PM Eastern), San Francisco
suffered the bulk of the damage.
A section of the Bay Bridge, which connects
Oakland and
San Francisco across the San Francisco Bay, collapsed,
possible killing several people.
Route 880, on the Oakland side of the
bridge,
collapsed, killing at least 200 people and trapping many
more. Rescuers are still trying to free the trapped
commuters.
Several fires caused by broken gas mains
on the San
Francisco side of the bay were raging out of control last
night, and their current state is unknown.
SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH TO GO AS PLANNED
by Joy Katesdatter, Staff Writer
The space shuttle Atlantis will be launched
today from
Cape Canaveral at 12:50 PM, Eastern Standard Time, if the
weather is good. According to radio reports, there is a 60%
chance that the weather will be favorable for the launch.
The Edwards Air Force Base in California
was affected
by the earthquake. According to the NASA Press Information
Bureau, there was "some damage to the structure of the
building where the controls are kept, but Air Force
officials have indicated that they were not adversely
affected, so the lauch is on schedule."
According to the launching department
at NASA, the
probe Galileo, to bo launched from the space shuttle, once
it is in orbit, is powered by 2,400 pounds of propellant.
The nature of the fuel was not known, but the standard fuel
mix is nitrogen tetroxide and hydrozine.