Death Toll Lowered in Bay Area Quake
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SACRAMENTO — The number of people killed in the Loma Prieta earthquake that devastated parts of the San Francisco Bay Area on Oct. 17, 1989, has been lowered from 67 to 63.
The change came when county coroners decided that some of the deaths initially blamed on the earthquake would have happened anyway, said Nancy Hardaker, spokeswoman for the California Office of Emergency Services.
“I don’t know specifically what the other (four) deaths were caused by,” Hardaker said Tuesday. “When a person has a heart attack, for instance, that’s a judgment call.”
Although she did not know the exact cause of the four deaths, all involved conditions such as heart attacks or existing illnesses, she said.
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