Rensselaer Journal, Volume 12, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 August 1902 — ENTIRE VALLEY IS DEVASTATED [ARTICLE]

ENTIRE VALLEY IS DEVASTATED

Earthquake Wrecks Town of Los Alamos, Cal., Spreading Terror. BRICK BUILDINGS LAID LOW First Shock Comes at Midnight and Drives Inhabitants From Their Beds —Not a Single Pane of Glass Is Left in the Village. The prosperous and fruitful valley of Los Alamos in the northern part of Santa Barbara county, California, was devastated by a seismic disturbance July 31. A strip of country fifteen miles long by four miles wide is rent with gaping fissures and dotted with hills and knolls that sprung up during the night as if by magic. A village Is in ruins and hundreds of people are fleeing for their lives. During four days that section of country has been shaken by a series of earthquakes without precedent in the history or tradition of the Pacific coast The continuance of the disturbances and the increasing severity of the shocks so terrorized the inhabitants that they left for other parts ar rapidly as possible. Continual Shocks. The disturbances began on Sunday evening with a shock which caused several thousand dollars’ worth of damage to property in the village and the surrounding country. It was most severe and most disastrous in the vicinity of the Western Union Oil company’s oil wells, on the Carriaga ranch. This shock was followed by a number of disturbances less severe and less disastrous, continuing through the remainder of Sunday night and Monday afternoon. On Tuesday night, beginning at 12:10 o’clock, there was another series of seven shocks, ail of which were light. The general direction of these disturbances was east and west. In action they resembled the waves on a pond oi water. The most severe shock of the entire series occurred at 11:30 o’clock Thursday morning. Hills were shaken and twisted to their foundations. The valleys trembled and rolled like the unstable surface of the ocean.

Opens Great Fissures. Great fissures were run deep in the earth. Hills and knolls appeared in level valleys. Springs of water broke out in places that had been dry. The general topography of the valley was greatly changed In many respects. The disturbance had no general direction, but was what is known as a “twister.” It was preceded by a rumbling like that of distant thunder, which increased until the earth began to rise and twist and the hills began to tremble. With the first warning of the sound of the approacning disaster the ter-ror-stricken people rushed into the streets and sought places of safety in vacant lots and roads. Many fled toward the neighboring hills. The first vibrations were similar to the preceding disturbances in direction and effect. Earth Rolls. They were immediately followed by the most terrific shock ever experienced in this section of the state. The earth trembled and rolled and twisted until It was impossible for people to stand erect, and the terror-stricken inhabitants crouched together in the darkness, fearful that the earth beneath them might open and swallow them. * The terror inspired by the rambling and trembling of the earth was Increased by the sound of falling buildings, which gave some idea of the terrible destruction that was being wrought. Brick Buildings Fall. In the darkness of the night it was impossible to determine the full extent of damage wrought, but with the dawn the stricken village had the appearance of the ruins of a city long deserted. The Presbyterian church, a substantial brick structure, had been leveled to the ground. Not one brick building was left standing. Chimneys had toppled over. Frame buildings had been wrenched apart and thrown from their foundations. Everything breakable was destroyed. Not a pane of glas's was left In any window of any house in town. A conservative estimate of the loss to property in the village is $30,000.