The 1933 Long Beach earthquake took place on March 10 at south of

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The epicenter was offshore, southeast of

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, on the

Newport–Inglewood Fault The Newport–Inglewood Fault is a right-lateral strike-slip fault in Southern California. The fault extends for from Culver City southeast through Inglewood and other coastal communities to Newport Beach at which point the fault extends east ...

. The

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

had a magnitude estimated at 6.4 , and a maximum

Mercalli intensity The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS), developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the eff ...

of VIII (''Severe''). Damage to buildings was widespread throughout

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

. It resulted in 115 to 120 fatalities and an estimated $40 million worth of property damage, equivalent to $ million in . The majority of the fatalities resulted from people running out of buildings exposing themselves to the falling debris.

Damage

Architect and engineer (1934) (14578209967)

Major damage occurred in the densely populated city of Long Beach on the south-facing coast of

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

. However, the damage was also found in the industrial area south of

downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is ...

. An estimated 75,000 mi³ area was impacted, being felt as far as

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven c ...

Owens Valley Owens Valley (Numic Numic is a branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. It includes seven languages spoken by Native American peoples traditionally living in the Great Basin, Colorado River basin, Snake River basin, and southern Great Pl ...

, and Northern

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

. The magnitude of the earthquake is considered medium, but a significant amount of damage occurred due to unfavorable geological conditions (landfill, water-soaked

alluvium Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

) combined with poorly constructed buildings. At Long Beach, buildings collapsed, water tanks fell through roofs, and houses were tossed off their

foundations Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

. School buildings were among the structures that incurred the most severe damage. Within seconds, 120 schools within the Long Beach area were damaged, 70 of which were destroyed. It was recognized that unreinforced masonry bearing walls were the reason that school buildings suffered so much damage. On March 20, 2008, a ''Los Angeles Times'' article stated that "the 1933 quake changed the landscape, leading to improved school construction standards and a heightened awareness of earthquake risks." Among other buildings, the

La Grande Station La Grande Station was the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's (Santa Fe) main passenger terminal in Los Angeles, California from 1893 until the opening of Union Station in 1939. The station was located at 2nd Street and Santa Fe Avenue on the ...

, the main Los Angeles terminal of the

Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and ...

, was heavily damaged.

Aftermath

The earthquake highlighted the need for earthquake-resistant design for structures in California. More than 230 school buildings either were destroyed, suffered major damage, or were judged unsafe to occupy. Many schools were permanently closed for a long time due to the building being unsafe for inhabitation or not meeting earthquake safety regulations at the time. Since these schools were deemed unsafe, students would report to classes held in tents. Large sums of money were needed to upgrade these damaged school buildings. The damage to the La Grande Station indirectly led to the construction of

Los Angeles Union Station Los Angeles Union Station is the main railway station in Los Angeles, California, and the largest railroad passenger terminal in the Western United States. It opened in May 1939 as the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, replacing La Grande S ...

, which was built on top of what was at that time the

Chinatown, Los Angeles Chinatown is a neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles, California, that became a commercial center for Chinese and other Asian businesses in Central Los Angeles in 1938. The area includes restaurants, shops, and art galleries, but also has a reside ...

. This earthquake prompted the federal government to play an active role in disaster relief. The government created the

Reconstruction Finance Corporation The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was a government corporation administered by the United States Federal Government between 1932 and 1957 that provided financial support to state and local governments and made loans to banks, railroads, mortgag ...

, providing loans for reconstructing buildings that were affected during the natural disaster. Had the earthquake occurred during school hours, the death toll would have been much higher, hence adopting the

Field Act The Field Act was one of the first pieces of legislation that mandated earthquake-resistant construction (specifically for schools in California) in the United States. The Field Act had its genesis in the 6.4 magnitude 1933 Long Beach earthquake w ...

by the California State legislature. The Field Act mandated that building designs be based on high-level building standards adopted by the state and enforced by independent plan review and inspection. The plans and specifications must be prepared by competent designers qualified through state registration. The

Bureau of Public Roads The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

also took action to rebuild roads, highways, and bridges. 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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

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.

Cause

A 2016 press release by the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

indicates that research shows the 1933 Long Beach earthquake may have been man-made, caused by oil and gas extraction underneath the city. 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. A study done by the USGS suggests that drilling in a Huntington Beach area caused the 1933 earthquake. Other studies done by the USGS have 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 of these earthquakes were located near areas where significant changes occurred in oil production areas. Man-made earthquakes are still an issue, especially in Oklahoma and Texas. Recent studies have shown that the injection of wastewater into the ground increases the occurrence of earthquakes. Within the Los Angeles depositional basin, northwest-trending groups of faulted

anticline In structural geology, an anticline is a type of fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex up in which the hinge or crest is the ...

s were viewed to be caused by oil and gas extraction underneath the city. The extraction of oil and gas produces salty water, adding stress to faults, causing earthquakes. Often wastewater and natural gas production will increase the magnitude of the earthquake making them even more dangerous. The

, the source of the 1933 earthquake, is a right-lateral strike-slip fault trending northwest-southeast, and parallel to other major right-lateral faults in California. The fault spans about 46 miles onshore from Culver City to Newport Beach, where it enters the Pacific Ocean. This fault is expected to produce an earthquake of magnitude 7.4. The 1933 Long Beach earthquake was only a magnitude of about 6.4, approximately ten 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

The 1933 film ''

Headline Shooter ''Headline Shooter'' is a 1933 American pre-Code drama about the life of a newsreel photographer. Director Otto Brower intertwined the screenplay written by Agnes Christine Johnston, Allen Rivkin, and Arthur Kober, with actual newsreel footage ...

'', uses newsreel footage of the Long Beach earthquake. The 1933 documentary ''Quake! Its Effect on Long Beach and Compton California'' by Guy D. Haselton also features contemporary footage. The earthquake plays a significant part in the novel ''

The Last Tycoon ''The Last Tycoon'' is an unfinished novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In 1941, it was published posthumously under this title, as prepared by his friend Edmund Wilson, a critic and writer. According to ''Publishers Weekly,'' the novel is "generally ...

'' (1941) by

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...

. 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 John Fante (April 8, 1909 – May 8, 1983) was an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his semi-autobiographical novel ''Ask the Dust'' (1939) about the life of Arturo Bandini, a struggling writer in Depre ...

's ''

Ask the Dust ''Ask the Dust'' is the most popular novel of Italian-American author John Fante, first published in 1939 and set during the Great Depression era in Los Angeles. It is one of a series of novels featuring the character Arturo Bandini as Fante's al ...

'' (1939). Footage of the earthquake appeared in the film ''Encounter with Disaster'', released in 1979 and produced by Sun Classic Pictures.

References

External links

USGS Historical Earthquakes – Long Beach, California
–

75th Anniversary of the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake
–

California Department of Conservation The California Department of Conservation is a department within the government of California, belonging to the California Natural Resources Agency. With a team of scientists, engineers, environmental experts, and other specialists, the Departmen ...

National Information Service on Earthquake engineering page about Long Beach earthquake
– National Information Service for Earthquake Engineering

– ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

''
''Long Beach Earthquake: March 10, 1933'' Cloyd E. Louis
–

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

*
Image of workers clearing brick rubble from a sidewalk after the Long Beach earthquake, California, 1933.
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library,

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. * Watch ''Encounters with Disaster (1979)'' on the Internet Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Long Beach Earthquake, 1933 1933 earthquakes 1933 L1933 L1933

1933 natural disasters in the United States Disasters in Los Angeles Geology of Los Angeles County, California March 1933 events in the United States