This silent film shows the aftermath of the devatating 1933 Long Beach Earthquake, including shots of many damaged and destroyed buildings, many of them built with unreinforced freemasonry. At :23 the shattered Lynwood Sweet Shop is shown, in the rear the completely collapsed Lynwood Theater, located at 11606 Long Beach Boulevard, is visible. At 1:35 a DeSoto and Plymouth auto dealership is shown, and then at 1:41 the Morgan Motor Co, a Packard dealer, all with severe damage. At 1:58 the Metropolitan Market building is shown. At 2:04 an ironic billboard for a voting on a charter amendment on April 7th reads “Avoid Chaos”. At 5:44 the “Wonder Bread” bakery is shown, with shots following showing Divco type delivery trucks crushed inside the garage. At 6:30 a soldier is seen, apparently at an emergency soup kitchen. Food is being made for disoriented survivors. At 7:37, children dance on a stage set up for entertainment. At 7:52 a JJ Newberry store is visible. Men are sleeping outdoors. At 8:18, survivors pick up apples from a large pile. At 8:26 an injured survivor moves about on crutches. At 9:06 a Red Cross tent and at 9:46, many crushed Model T Fords. At 10:02 a worker pushes the top wall of a brick building to the ground — dangerous work. At 10:48 a sign for “Southern Kitchen” sits in the street. At 10:54 a Wurlitzer dealership. At 12:00 buildings gutted by fire are visible. At 14:09 a “Trading Post” sign lies in the street. At 14:27 a crushed car is shown.
The quake 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. 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. 115 to 120 fatalities and an estimated forty million dollars’ worth of property damage resulted. The majority of the fatalities resulted from people running out of buildings exposing themselves to the falling debris.
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, mandating that school buildings must be earthquake-resistant. If the earthquake had occurred during school hours, the death toll would have been much higher.
This earthquake prompted the 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 Bureau of Public Roads 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 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.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
