The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park

The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake occurred on California's Central Coast on October 17 at 5:04 p.m. local time. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz County, approximately 10 mi (16 km) northeast of Santa Cruz on a section of the San Andreas Fault System and was named for the nearby Loma Prieta Peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains. With an Mw magnitude of 6.9 and a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), the shock was responsible for 63 deaths and 3,757 injuries. The Loma Prieta segment of the San Andreas Fault System had been relatively inactive since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake (to the degree that it was designated a seismic gap) until two moderate foreshocks occurred in June 1988 and again in August 1989. Damage was heavy in Santa Cruz County and less so to the south in Monterey County, but effects extended well to the north into the San Francisco Bay Area, both on the San Francisco Peninsula and across the bay in Oakland. No surface faulting occurred, though many other ground failures and landslides were present, especially in the Summit area of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Liquefaction was also a significant issue, especially in the heavily damaged Marina District of San Francisco, but its effects were also seen in the East Bay, and near the shore of Monterey Bay, where a non-destructive tsunami was also observed.Because it happened during a national live broadcast of the 1989 World Series, the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, taking place between Bay Area teams San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics, it is sometimes referred to as the "World Series earthquake", with the championship games of the year being referred to as the "Earthquake Series". Rush-hour traffic on the Bay Area freeways was lighter than normal because the game, being played at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, was about to begin, and this may have prevented a larger loss of life, as several of the Bay Area's major transportation structures suffered catastrophic failures. The collapse of a section of the double-deck Nimitz Freeway in Oakland was the site of the largest number of casualties for the event, but the collapse of human-made structures and other related accidents contributed to casualties occurring in San Francisco, Los Altos, and Santa Cruz.

Soquel Demonstration State Forest (SDSF or SDF) is one of eight Cal Fire-operated Demonstration State Forests totaling 71,000 acres. Collectively, the forests represent the most common forest types in California. The State Forests grow approximately 75 million board feet yearly and harvest an average of 30 million board feet of timber each year, enough to build 3,000 single-family homes. Revenue from these harvests funds a variety of the Department's Resource Management Programs. In addition, the forests provide research and demonstration projects on forest management, while providing public recreation opportunities, fish and wildlife habitat, and watershed protection.The Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Board) policy provides that the State Forests shall be used for experimentation to determine the economic feasibility of artificial reforestation, and to demonstrate the productive and economic possibilities of good forest practices toward maintaining forest cropland in a productive condition. The management objectives and plans developed for each State Forest are subject to periodic review and approval by the Board.

Amaya Creek is a creek located Santa Cruz County, California, United States. It is part of the Soquel Creek watershed. The creek was named after two brothers who owned the land around it, circa 1860: Casimero and Dario Amaya.

Day Valley is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California, United States. The population was 3,409 at the 2010 census.

The Los Gatos Creek runs 24 miles (39 km) in California through Santa Clara Valley Water District's Guadalupe Watershed from the Santa Cruz Mountains northward through the Santa Clara Valley until its confluence with the Guadalupe River in downtown San Jose. The Guadalupe River then continues onward into San Francisco Bay. The creek begins in the Santa Cruz mountains near the Santa Clara/Santa Cruz County border, just south of the peak Loma Prieta. It then flows northwesterly to Lake Elsman, a reservoir owned by the San Jose Water Company, then on to Holy City and Chemeketa Park, then northward into the Lexington Reservoir. The creek then flows through the Los Gatos Canyon and through the town of Los Gatos and Vasona Reservoir, then northeasterly through Campbell and San Jose where it meets the Guadalupe River.

Valencia Hall, in Santa Cruz County, California near Aptos, California, was built around 1884 by F.A. Hihn. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.It is a 30 by 40 feet (9.1 m × 12.2 m) structure built entirely of redwood. It was built on Valencia Creek as a meeting place and community center for a community planned to serve millhands and their families.

Rancho Aptos was a 6,686-acre (27.06 km2) Mexican land grant in present day Santa Cruz County, California given in 1833 by Governor José Figueroa to Rafael Castro. The grant on the Monterey Bay was immediately downcoast of his sister, Martina Castro's Rancho Soquel, and upcoast of his father, José Joaquín Castro's Rancho San Andrés. Rancho Aptos stretched from the area just to the west of Aptos Creek to parts of Nisene Marks and Day Valley in the north, and Rio del Mar to the east, including present day Aptos.

The Loma Fire was a wildfire that broke out on September 26, 2016, in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Santa Clara County, California. By the time the fire was contained on October 12, the fire had burned 4,474 acres (18 km2) of land and had destroyed 12 residences and 16 outbuildings.With the containment of the fire, and rainstorms due in the area, concerns turned to the potential for mudslides in the area. With vegetation that previously held together the soil on the mountain having burned in the fire, the erosion effects of the upcoming rains are heightened. Erosion repair efforts are being coordinated by the Santa Clara County Office of Emergency Services.According to CalFire officials, the fire was caused by sparks from a portable generator used in marijuana cultivation operations off of Loma Chiquita Road.

The Summit Fire was a wildfire that started on May 22, 2008 in the Santa Cruz Mountains, near Corralitos, California, United States. The fire was fully contained on May 27, 2008. No injuries or fatalities occurred, with the exception of twelve firefighters who received minor sprains, cuts and strains. The fire prompted mandatory evacuations of homes in the area. Several elementary, middle, and high schools were closed following the fire. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency for Santa Cruz County. The cause of the fire was an unattended burn pile .The fire has approached the area 2 miles (3.2 km) to the east which was consumed in October 2002 - the Croy Fire.

KSQL (99.1 MHz, "Qué Buena 98.9 y 99.1") is a Spanish language radio station in Santa Cruz, California. The station simulcasts the signal of KSOL (98.9 MHz) in San Francisco. KSOL and KSQL program a format consisting of Regional Mexican music and some comedy talk shows. Both stations are owned by TelevisaUnivision. The radio studios and offices are in the Financial District of San Francisco. The KSQL transmitter is in Loma Prieta.There are two booster stations for KSOL: KSOL-FM2 in Sausalito since 1992, and KSOL-FM3 in Pleasanton since 1997.

Loma Prieta (from Spanish loma -hill, prieta -dark) is 3,790 feet (1,160 m) high and is the highest peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Northern California.Although the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake was named for this mountain, the actual epicenter was five miles southwest of the peak, across the San Andreas fault, in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park. In the 19th century, the peak was called Mount Bache, a name given in honor of Alexander Dallas Bache; the name is no longer in use.From 1955 to 2005, the mountain was the longtime site for the transmitter tower of San Jose television station KNTV. In September 2005, it moved its transmitter 83 kilometres (52 mi) northwest to San Bruno Mountain after it became the Bay Area's NBC affiliate.

KBKF-LD, virtual and VHF digital channel 6, is a low-powered television station (LPTV) licensed to San Jose, California, United States. The station is owned by Venture Technologies Group, LLC. Its transmitter site is located on Loma Prieta Peak. Although licensed as a TV station, KBKF-LD primarily functions as a radio station, broadcasting Contemporary Christian music from the Air1 network that can be heard by FM radios at 87.7 MHz. Its ATSC 3.0 video feed broadcasts U Channel on digital channel 6.2.