SANTA BARBARA EARTHQUAKE

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 1, 1 July 1925, Page 5

SANTA BARBARA EARTHQUAKE

VIVID DETAILS OF DISASTER

"LIKE A STORM AT SEA.'- 1-

(UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPTMSHT.J (ROTER's' TBLIGRAX.) SAN FRANCISCO, 30th June. A Santa Barbara message states that the death list in the earthquake tonight was twelve. The property lost is estimated at from three to thirty millions. State street, the main thoroughfare, is described as a ghastly avenue of ruin. Portions of its most stately buildings have tumbled down. . The 'quakes continued throughout the day. Thirty thousand of its terror-stricken inhabitants are living on lawns. Describing the destruction of 'the big Arlington Hotel, the manager, Mr. Richmond, said: "I have been through fifty earthquakes, but sever one like this before. , It g just took the hotel and shook it back and forth as if it were a rag. It was precisely as if one was at sea in a storm. I did not believe it possible for a building to move with such force, in so many directions, and as limply as the Arlington. 7' The hotel is a total loss. There was first a gentle tremor, which awakened even light sleepers. They hurried into the streets. Three minutes later, when everyone was out of doors, the whole earth, rose and seemed to shake itself in some great anger. It rose and then settled spaamoliically, with ugly jerks'. "We rocked aud swayed like some turbulent ocean," said one describer. Minutes chat seemed hours passed until the climax was reached in a crash that could be heard' for miles. The beautiful main street was no more. The city was choked with a blanket of cloud and dust. The end of all seemed to have come whtin a gasoline tank holding 15,000 gallons burst, the torrent running down the business section until the puddles were a foot in depth. Fortunately the petrol did not ignite, or there would have been a terrible loss of life. The firat shock, which occurred early this morning, caused practically oil the damage, though; it was 'followed try severe joltu every half hour after that for three hours. ' The buildings demolished include the Santa Barbara Mission, a relic of 'the State's aarliest days., State street, the leading thoroughfare,- is undermined completely. The bedrooms of residences are exposed and forniture ia scattered about. . . Santa Barbara is the centre of a group; of seaside resorts, > inhabited by. a number of prosperous persons. Huh- j dreds of curious tourists flocking to the scene for a glimpse of the ruins were checked by an emergency police force. MENACE OF FIRE It is feared the city will be a complete ruin if the .fires menacing the wooden houses left standing are ncit checked. The city is without light and power. . ..;./..,..:'.'..,.. . „■-,. .■-•.. ' A message from. ,Los 'Angeles, containing further particulars of the, earthquake, states that the Southern Pacific Railway is rushing all available tank cars to Santa Barbara, filled with .water., to fight the fire. / ': j v

REPORT OF TIDAL WAVE State street, Santa < Barbara's main thoroughfare, extends from the beach for a distance of several miles. It was lined with buildings, which ranged from two stories to ten. Early messages said that nil these- buildings of brick and concrete were destroyed, The greatest damage came from a tidal wave from the harbour, which swept up State street. The street heaved and buckled, and si the water mains broke geysers shot up through the pavement. The town of Gaviota is reported to be partially demolished..