CALIFORNIAN ’QUAKES

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 March 1933, Page 5

CALIFORNIAN ’QUAKES

[BY CABLE —PRESS ASSN. —COPYBIGHT.]

LOS ANGELES, March 10.

A severe earthquake shook this city early to-night. Damage is visible on the Broadway business district here, where a mass of bricks fell from one building, stopping the street cartraffic. The shocks here came as thousands of workers were crowding the down-town streets. It was not. known immediately if there were any casualties or injuries. A second severe shock swayed the city eleven minutes later. The. first, shock here followed ft quake which had jarred the city of San Diego, further south, five min-i utes earlier, rocking the buildings there, but -there was no apparent darn-1 age from it. All attempts to reach the city of Long Beach, which is twenty-five miles distant, from Los Angeles and on the Pacific Coast, by telephone proved futile. The lines were out of order. The lights in Los Angeles went out. Many windows were broken in some sections of the city. Ambulances carried several persons to the hospitals of Los Angeles from the “Down Town” section. The walls of the old Chamber of Commerce building tumbled. Then a third shock swayed Los Angeles later. The down town traffic, the street cars, and the automobiles were then at a standstill for some time. The first, shake here lasted for several minutes. There was a violent shaking in a north-south direction. The shock was the most severe one here for many years.

WIDE AREA AFFECTED.

LOS ANGELES, March 11. Part of the richest area in Califor-

nia, two hundred miles long and some thirty miles wide, has been affected by the quakes. The area extends from the Mexican border to Santa Barbara, and from the sea coast to the mountains. More than two millions, of people have been settled there since the last major earthquake (in 1906) of the apparent series which visits South California, in Nature’s continent building, every 75 years or so. This belt, includes the hundred million dollar yearly citrus industry; also the heart of the motion picture industry; and the largest number of houses of wealthy people (from all parts of the continent) of any place in the world. The motion picture plants and the homes of the wealthy in Beverley Hills, Hollywood, Pasadena, Altadena, San Marino, and in fact all of the areas of the magnificent homes and estates, were merely on the fringe of the jolting waves of death and destruction, which centred in a triangular region with its apex in the centre of down town Los Angeles and extending south-west through the industrial. centres of Southern California. To the south it fanned out into the oil regions, Santa Fe Springs, Labrea and the groves of orange country. In the centre it went , down to the heart of the industrial section, embracing numerous communities, and dealing with each in greater severity with its worst havoc at. ong Beach.’ Long Beach has been made wealthy by its oil royalties. It perhaps is best, known as the “Sea Shore City.” and the Mecca of summer visitors. To the westward, the triangle included the rich Dominguez and Torrance oil fields and the largest oil storrgae plants and refineries in the world; they being in the region north of Long Beach, and surrounding Los Angeles Harbour. At Pasadena tlie quake was what the Carnegie Institutions seismological laboratory has been awaiting years for. The scientists believed that Southern California would experience another great earthquake, and the Carnegie Institution was built on a fault on the outskirts of Pasadena. Delicate self-recording instruments

had been installed, and careful records were made, with the hope of them being of value in studying the earth disturbances leading up to this major quake that would make it possible to forecast great tremors. It appeared that, the epi-centre of the present dis-

turbances was in the San Pedro Channel.

FIRST SHOCK THE WORST.

LONG BEACH SUFFERS MOST.

LOS ANGELES. March 11.

Light earth shocks continued over South California, to-day in the wake of the terrifying quake which, early on Friday night, caused the death of at least one hundred and thirty-two persons, and injuries io possibly four thousand, and also millions of dollars of property damage. There have been twenty-three distinct, shocks, but. these generally have been of a- diminishing tendency. Most of the deaths and of the destruction of property were confined to the initial shock, which was accompanied by a peculiar roar; which rocked a. section of this city at. 5.55 p.m. on Friday, shaking buildings and walls down and starting fires. Some of Saturday’s shocks jarred more debris loose from buildings, particularly in the business section.

At. Long Beach, which is twenty miles from here, and which seems to be the epi-centre of the shake, at least, sixty-five have been killed, and one thousand injured. Dr Charles Richter, of the Carnegie Institution, Seismological Laboratory, at Pasadena, has expressed the opinion that, the worst of the shocks are over, pointing to the scientific records of one hundred shakes which have been followed by milder shocks, like echoes.

With its business buildings practicmllj' uninhabitable, Long Beach is a scene of relief work. A food shortage which threatened has been averted though hundreds are temporarily homeless. Just what the final figures of the dead and injured may be, no one can hazard. None of the cities is actually laid waste nor was the skyline of Long Beach affected. In Los Angeles no large buildings went down, but here and there throughout the industrial district, scenes of damage are evident. Four circular motion shocks, making a total of twenty-four, were felt

130 KILLED—S,OOO INJURED PROPERTY DAMAGE HEAVY

EARLY DISTRICT REPORTS.

SANTA ANNA, March 10

The thirty-first shock was felt at 10.18 on Saturday night. It was a severe north to south movement.

RELIEF WORKERS ACTIVE.

ESTIMATES OF LOSSES.

NEW YORK, March 11.

The “New York Times’s” Los Angeles correspondent says: Simultaneously with the search for the bodies amid the wreckage of the houses and business buildings in fourteen cities and towns of Southern California. — which have suffered an intermittent earthquake for almost. 24 hours —the care of injured and also relief work for homeless were being carried on by an army of State and local officials, National Guardsmen of the United States, soldiers, sailors, marines, the Red Cross, Salvation Army and by hundreds of the citizens. “The extent of the disaster could not be recognised in the terror and confusion of last night. To-day it became better known. The task of searching the tottering structures could be better accomplished, though the work had to proceed slowly due to the danger that the workers themselves might, be buried under new avalanches of crumbling material cast off as the tremblings continued. Kitchens are being sent into the afflicted areas to feed the thousands who otherwise would go hungry. The damage Io the major buildings “down town” Los Angeles, was estimated at only 250,000 dollars, compared with many millions of the loss at Long Beach, and in Compton. The loss respectively in. those places is estimated at. twenty-five million dollars and ten million dollars, with another five million in suburban Los Angeles itself. The damage io the pier, warehouses and wharves in the Los Angeles Harbour areas and the Wilmington and San Pedro is estimated at five hundred thousand dollars. The wharves have dropped fully six inches in some places. Excitement was manifest early today when the main natural gas line, from the Kettleman Hill Field, broke and shot: flames high in the air. until the valves could Im (dosed. A check of the shocks has indicated that, the epi-centre of the seismic movement was under the bed of the Pacific Ocean in the Catalina Channel. Passengers on steamers from Los Angeles told of their witnessing four land slides near Palos-Verdes, one of which nearly took away a lighthouse on Point. Vincent.

The area, of earthquake havoc was concentrated on a strip 200 miles north, and south, and sixty miles inland. Santa Barbara, the scene of the last disastrous Southern Californian quake in June 1925, was only slightly touched. San Diego, on the southern side similarly reported only slight effect.

Compton, between Long Beach and Los Angeles, has virtually been ley-

on Saturday at 6.26 a.m., 6.48 a.m., 6 57 a.m., and 7.30 a.m. Long Beach is now guarded by four thousand marines and sailors from the United States Battle Fleet. That city is believed to have received the brunt of the shocks. Although several small fires occurred there, the only serious configration was in the Polytechnic High School, where the science hall was destroyed, this damage being estimated at from half a million to a. million dollars. All of the large buildings in the city of Long Beach are reported to be standing, with their major damage confined to falling cornices, chimneys and plate-j glass windows. j The citizens fled from their homes, and crowded the public parks to overflowing on Friday night. More than three thousand persons were treated at Los Angeles for injuries. Of these, two hundred were hurt in jumping from windows; one hundred by explosions and fires; three hundred by falling chimneys. Five hundred volunteer surgeons and nurses gave first aid. Long Beach is under martial law. There has been no rioting.

Five men were killed in the crash of the fire station. Two students died in the High School. A newspaper plant, a theatre and a large department. store were wrecked.

An earthquake here has partly wrecked the Courthouse, the City Hall and the New Hall of Records, a Courthouse annex also caving in. At Compton, one dozen people were found to be dead, after a. hurried survey of the ’quake wreckage. Every business building in Compton is either wrecked or badly damaged. Compton is situated midway between Los Angeles and Long Beach. At Huntington Park (California), five persons are known to have been killed. A number of the public and also private buildings took fire. The High School is in flames, also several industrial structures.

An unconfirmed report has been circulated in San Pedro that terminals of the plant of the Southern Californian Edison Company have collapsed in the earthquake. Perhaps two hundred employees have been caught in the wreckage. ESTIMATES OF DEAD. LOS ANGELES, March 11. The latest details as to the deaths are as follow:— Los Angeles 14 Long Beach 74 Compton 18 Wilmington 16 The number of casualties at Los Angeles is 2000. The quake damage is about thirtyfive million dollars, twenty-five millions of it being in Long Beach. MORE SEVERE SHOCKS. LONG BEACH, March 11. Another sharp quake was felt here at. 9.50 p.m,, after several hours of quietude. Three more severe earth shocks were felt here within half an hour, between 10 p.m. and 10.32. LOS ANGELES, March 11.

elled. Only one building remained there.

As the result of staying out all night on lawns, and in other open places in the devastated area, many persons are developing pneumonia, and new cases are being reported at the rate of five per hour. This has added to the burden of the nursing and medical staffs.

FILM STARS ALARMED

HOLLYWOOD. March 11

The earthquakes failed to stop the motion picture stars from discussing their prospective fifty per cent pay cut, but it did make the film people forget one of their old prides of the theatre for a moment.

Reginald Barlow had just called the meeting to order when the first quake came. The players then headed for the door, but Mr Barlow boomed out: “If this is an earthquake, I need not remind you that the safest place to be is where you are!” There was a flutter of laughter as the celebrities marched back to their chairs.

During the remainder of the meeting there were several other shocks, but, as one put it, “We never noticed them after the first one—there was too much commotion about this salary thing.” NIGHT SPENT IN OPEN (Rec. March 13, 8 a.m.) LOS ANGELES, March 12. No material damage is reported following the earth tremor here and four at Longbeach, within forty-five minutes on Saturday night. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands have deserted their homes in a hundred Southern California ■ communities, spending the night in the open. Official compilation of the toll of death and injury and property damage was sidetracked while rehabilitation went on. Reports on Saturday night indicated that the death roll was a hundred and thirty and the injured five thousand, all but one thousand being first aid cases. The property loss is approximately fifty millions. Rescue crews ministered to the relief of fifty thousand, while thousands helped to clear the debris. It was revealed at San Pedro Navy base, that the plans which allowed the fleet to move quickly to relief and protective activity were made two years ago by Admiral Richard Leigh.