1933 ’Quake Reshaped Long Beach

By Emily Savage
Staff Writer

As children played in the streets and parents returned home from work, Long Beach residents were abruptly shaken by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake at 5:54 p.m. on March 10, 1933.

The aftermath was tremendous, said Margaret Arbini of the American Red Cross, Greater Long Beach Chapter.

Following the severe property damage to buildings in Long Beach and Compton, the State Legislature passed the Field Act, regulating building construction practices. Property damages from the quake were estimated at $50 million (in 1933 dollars — today it would be about $777 million) and more than 115 people were killed. In Long Beach alone, 13 schools were completely demolished.

Monday, city officials and residents will remember the 1933 earthquake on its 75th anniversary. In the City Council chambers in City Hall, speakers from different aspects of Long Beach life will discuss the past, present and future of Long Beach’s readiness to deal with earthquakes at a destructive level.

Arbini said she just happened to recently find the file that was written by the disaster case managers after the 1933 earthquake. She was cleaning out the attic of the office because water was leaking in and she wanted to make sure the documents weren’t ruined.

The file contains the names of families that sought support and details accounts of the mess around them.

Arbini read off the list of observations, “running water, muck stirred up, large cracks in the ground.”

More than 4,600 families registered with the Red Cross seeking help after the earthquake and the average family was awarded $138 for damages.

The Red Cross set up white, circus-like tents in Lincoln Park (which was where City Hall now stands) for survivors and passed out preparedness kits.

While the Red Cross was able to help families, lives and buildings could have been saved, had they worked on prevention instead of help after the disaster, Arbini said.

At the 75th Anniversary event on March 10, the chief operating officer of the American Red Cross, Greater Long Beach Chapter, Peggy Brutsche, will be speaking on prevention and preparedness, she said. She also will show slides of the damages and the “tent city.”

“Even though we are better prepared for a earthquake, there’s still a lot to do to prepare for a catastrophic event,” Brutsche said, “The public can do a lot to prevent damage so they won’t have to come to a Red Cross shelter.”

Brutsche mentioned tactics like securing home furniture and using house putty to hold framed pictures.

“People should do whatever they can to secure the contents of their home,” she said, “We’ll do our best to take care of them after the fact.”

Brutsche said she also will go into the history of the events after the earthquake, but each representative only gets seven minutes to talk, so she wants to make sure she gets her point across.

Along with Brutsche, there will be representatives from the Fire Department, the Health Department, the Port, LBUSD and the Police Department. Dr. Lucy Jones from the U.S Geological Survey will be the keynote speaker.

The 1933 Long Beach Earthquake 75th Anniversary event will be at 5:54 p.m. in City Hall, Civic Center and W. Ocean Boulevard. The event is open to the public. For more information, visit www.longbeach.gov.