1933 Long Beach earthquake

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1933 Long Beach earthquake
1933 Long Beach earthquake damage 1.jpg
Damage to the John Muir School, Pacific Avenue, Long Beach
1933 Long Beach earthquake is located in California
1933 Long Beach earthquake
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
UTC time1933-03-11 01:54:00
ISC event905457
USGS-ANSSComCat
Local dateMarch 10, 1933 (1933-03-10)
Local time5:54 P.M. PST[1]
Magnitude6.4 Mw [2]
Depth10 km (6.2 mi) [2]
Epicenter33°37′52″N 118°00′00″W / 33.631°N 118.000°W / 33.631; -118.000Coordinates: 33°37′52″N 118°00′00″W / 33.631°N 118.000°W / 33.631; -118.000 [3]
FaultNewport-Inglewood Fault[4]
TypeStrike-slip[5]
Areas affectedSouth Coast (California)
United States
Total damage$40 million [1]
Max. intensityVIII (Severe) [1]
Peak acceleration0.22 g [6]
Peak velocity20 cm/s (est) [7]
TsunamiNo
AftershocksM5.4 on Oct 2 1933 [8]
Casualties115–120 killed [1][9]

The 1933 Long Beach earthquake took place on March 10 at 5:54 P.M. PST south of downtown Los Angeles. The epicenter was offshore, southeast of Long Beach, California, on the Newport–Inglewood Fault.[10] The earthquake had a magnitude estimated at 6.4 Mw, and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). Damage to buildings was widespread throughout Southern California. It resulted in 115 to 120 fatalities and an estimated forty million dollars' worth of property damage, equivalent to $800 million in 2020. The majority of the fatalities resulted from people running out of buildings exposing themselves to the falling debris.

Damage[edit]

Damaged buildings throughout Long Beach
Compton High School
Damage to building in Long Beach.

The major damage occurred in the densely populated city of Long Beach on the south-facing coast of Los Angeles County. However, the damage was also found to have extended to the industrial area south of downtown Los Angeles. It was estimated that the impacted area was 75,000 square miles, being felt as far away as San Joaquin Valley, Owens Valley, and Northern Baja California. The magnitude of the earthquake is considered to be medium but a significant amount of damage was left due to unfavorable geological conditions (landfill, water-soaked alluvium) combined with poorly constructed buildings. In Long Beach, buildings collapsed, water tanks fell through roofs, and houses were tossed off their foundations. School buildings were among the structures that incurred the most severe damage.[11] Within seconds, 120 schools within the Long Beach area were damaged, 70 of which were destroyed. It was recognized that unreinforced masonry bearing walls was the reason that school buildings suffered so much damage in the wake of the earthquake.[12] In a March 20, 2008, Los Angeles Times article, Molly Hennessy-Fiske reported "the 1933 quake changed the landscape, leading to improved school construction standards and a heightened awareness of earthquake risks."[13] Among other buildings, the La Grande Station, the main Los Angeles terminal of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad, was heavily damaged in this earthquake.[14]

Aftermath[edit]

The earthquake highlighted the need for earthquake-resistant design for structures in California. Many school buildings were damaged, with more than 230 school buildings that either were destroyed, suffered major damage, or were judged unsafe to occupy. The California State Legislature passed the Field Act on April 10, 1933, requiring that the building designs must be based on high-level building standards adopted by the state. The plans and specifications must be prepared by competent designers qualified through state registration.[15] If the earthquake had occurred during school hours, the death toll would have been much higher, hence the adoption of the Field Act.[16] Many schools were permanently closed for a long time due to the building being unsafe for the return of students or not meeting the earthquake safety regulations at the time. Since these schools were deemed unsafe to return to, students would report to classes that were being held in tents. Lots of money was needed to upgrade these damaged school buildings.[17]

The damage to the La Grande Station indirectly led to the construction of Los Angeles Union Station, which was built on top of what was at that time the Chinatown, Los Angeles.[18]

This earthquake prompted the federal government to play an active role in disaster relief. The government created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, providing loans for the reconstruction of buildings that were affected during the natural disaster. The California State legislature passed the Field act as a response to the earthquake. The field act made it mandatory that building designs must be based on high-level building standards adopted by the state and are also enforced by independent plan review and inspection.[19] The Bureau of Public Roads also took action to rebuild roads, highways, and bridges.[20] The economy of Long Beach was able to return to normal swiftly because of the rise of the aircraft industry. To support the World War II efforts, Long Beach created naval yards and increased the number of aircraft produced. This directly helped Long Beach repair and stabilize the economy after the disaster.[21]

Cause[edit]

Earthquake Shaking Potential for California (Long Beach in the bottom red area)

A 2016 press release by the United States Geological Survey indicates that research shows the 1933 Long Beach earthquake may have been man-made, caused by oil and gas extraction underneath the city.[22] Further studies indicate that several, if not most earthquakes during the peak years of Los Angeles's oil boom were likely caused by tectonic stress induced by methods used at the time which did not replace the millions of barrels of removed oil with other liquids.[23][24] A study done by the USGS suggests that drilling in a Huntington Beach area caused the 1933 earthquake. Other studies, done by the USGS, has also indicated that oil drilling may have been responsible for earthquakes in the surrounding areas in the 1920s. This study was done by two scientists that studied early state oil drilling records. They found that the epicenters for these earthquakes were located near where significant changes had occurred in oil production areas.[25] Man-made earthquakes are still a problem to this day, especially in Oklahoma and Texas. Recent studies have shown that the injection of wastewater into the ground has increased seismic events.[26]

Within the Los Angeles depositional basin, northwest-trending groups of faulted anticlines were viewed to be caused by oil and gas extraction underneath the city. The extraction of oil and gas produces very salty water causes stress to fault lines, causing earthquakes to occur. Often leftover water and natural gas production will strengthen the magnitude of the earthquake making them even more dangerous.[27] The fault line the earthquake occurred on was the Newport-Inglewood fault zone, which is now viewed as a fault zone from evidence of right-lateral displacement and a northwest–southeast orientation which is parallel to other major right-lateral faults in California. The fault zone spans about 46 miles on land from Culver City to Newport beach, where it then connects to the Pacific Ocean. This fault is expected to be able to produce an earthquake with up to a magnitude of about 7.4.[28] The 1933 Long Beach earthquake was only a magnitude of about 6.4, approximately 10 times less vibration amplitude and 1,000 times less energy release than that of a magnitude of 7.4 earthquake.

Appearances in Documentaries and Popular Culture[edit]

The 1933 film Headline Shooter, uses newsreel footage of the Long Beach earthquake. The 1933 documentary Quake! Its Effect on Long Beach and Compton California by Guy D. Haselton[29] also features contemporary footage.[30][31]

The earthquake plays a major part in the novel The Last Tycoon (1941), by F. Scott Fitzgerald. During the disruption caused by the quake, the hero, Monroe Stahr, meets Kathleen Moore, with whom he falls in love.

The earthquake is also included in John Fante's Ask the Dust (1939).

A radio newscast announces the aftermath of the earthquake in Season One, Episode Five of The Waltons.

This earthquake was mentioned by one of the guest characters, played by actor Ian Wolfe in Season Three, Episode One of Police Woman, who also mentions the 1971 San Fernando earthquake as the "Big One of '71".

Footage of the earthquake appeared in the film Encounter with Disaster, released in 1979 and produced by Sun Classic Pictures.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Stover, C. W.; Coffman, J. L. (1993), Seismicity of the United States, 1568–1989 (Revised) – U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1527, United States Government Printing Office, pp. 78, 130, 131, archived from the original on 2019-04-13, retrieved 2016-10-29
  2. ^ a b ISC (2015), ISC-GEM Global Instrumental Earthquake Catalogue (1900–2009), Version 2.0, International Seismological Centre, archived from the original on 2019-05-20, retrieved 2015-07-12
  3. ^ USGS. "M6.4 – 7km WNW of Newport Beach, CA". United States Geological Survey. Archived from the original on 2018-03-16. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  4. ^ "Southern California Earthquake Data Center: Long Beach Earthquake". scedc.caltech.edu. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  5. ^ Hauksson, E.; Gross, S. (1991), "Source parameters of the 1933 Long Beach earthquake" (PDF), Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Seismological Society of America, 81 (1): 81, archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-04-23, retrieved 2016-04-09
  6. ^ "The 1933 Long Beach Earthquake".
  7. ^ "Nature:The 1933 Long Beach Earthquake (California, USA) Ground Motions and Rupture Scenario". Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  8. ^ "Nature:The 1933 Long Beach Earthquake (California, USA) Ground Motions and Rupture Scenario".
  9. ^ National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS) (1972), Significant Earthquake Database (Data Set), National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA, doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K, archived from the original on 2017-07-21, retrieved 2016-04-09
  10. ^ "Southern California Earthquake Data Center: Long Beach Earthquake". scedc.caltech.edu. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  11. ^ Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document: "Earthquake History of California". Archived from the original on 2000-08-17. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
  12. ^ Green, Melvyn; Watson, Anne L. (1988). "Building Codes: Evaluating Buildings in Seismic Zones". APT Bulletin. 20 (2): 13–17. doi:10.2307/1494245. JSTOR 1494245.
  13. ^ "From the Archives: The 1933 Long Beach earthquake". Los Angeles Times (in American English). 2019-03-08. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
  14. ^ Southern California Institute of Architecture (2004). "On the History of the Santa Fe Freight Depot, Los Angeles". Archived from the original on 2006-04-27. Retrieved 2006-05-12.
  15. ^ "The 1933 Long Beach Earthquake". www.conservation.ca.gov. Retrieved 2021-10-13.
  16. ^ Alquist, A. E. (February 2007). "The Field Act and Public School Construction: A 2007 Perspective" (PDF). California Seismic Safety Commission. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 November 2010. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  17. ^ J. Edmund Eaton (1933). "Long Beach, California, Earthquake of March 10, 1933: GEOLOGICAL NOTES". AAPG Bulletin. 17. doi:10.1306/3d932b6c-16b1-11d7-8645000102c1865d. ISSN 0149-1423.
  18. ^ Chang, Irene (1990-11-14). "Metro Rail Excavation Casts New Light on 'Old Chinatown'". Los Angeles Times (in American English). Retrieved 2021-12-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. ^ "The 1933 Long Beach Earthquake". www.conservation.ca.gov. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
  20. ^ Batten, Donna (2013), ""Natural Disasters." Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law", Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law, Gale, 2: 915–918, archived from the original on 2019-03-06, retrieved 2019-03-04
  21. ^ Johnson, Daniel J (2003), Long Beach. Dictionary of American History 3rd ed., vol. 5, Charles Scribner's Sons, Charles Scribners & Sons; 3 edition, pp. 148, 149
  22. ^ Davis, Donyelle (2016), Some Early 20th Century Earthquakes in Los Angeles Area Might Have Been Man-Made, Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey
  23. ^ Hough, Susan (2018), "Revisiting Earthquakes in the Los Angeles, California, Basin During the Early Instrumental Period: Evidence for an Association With Oil Production", Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 123 (12): 10, 684–10, 705, Bibcode:2018JGRB..12310684H, doi:10.1029/2017JB014616
  24. ^ Lester, Liza (2018), Oil extraction likely triggered mid-century earthquakes in Los Angeles, American Geophysical Union blog
  25. ^ Barragan, Bianca (2016-10-31). "Study: Oil drilling may have caused devastating 1933 Long Beach earthquake". Curbed LA. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
  26. ^ "Study: Drilling may have caused deadly 1933 Long Beach quake". Orange County Register (in American English). 2016-10-31. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
  27. ^ Morton, Mary (2019-08-16). "Sinking Wastewater Triggers Deeper, Stronger Earthquakes". Eos. 100. doi:10.1029/2019eo130663. ISSN 2324-9250.
  28. ^ "The 1933 Long Beach Earthquake". www.conservation.ca.gov. Retrieved 2021-11-09.
  29. ^ "Quake! (Short 1933) - IMDb".
  30. ^ "Quake! Its Effect on Long Beach and Compton California Silent Film Long Beach Earthquake". Archived from the original on 2021-12-13.
  31. ^ "QUAKE! Its Effect on Long Beach and Compton California".

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Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

  1. ^ "The 1933 Long Beach Earthquake". www.conservation.ca.gov. Retrieved 2021-10-13.
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