 The powder works employed 150 to 275 men until operations ceased in 1914.Santa Cruz was hard hit by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that killed three people.It was also hit by ocean surges caused by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, wherein the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor sustained an estimated $10 million of damage, with another $5 million of damage to docked boats there.