Earthquake 1925 Santa Barbara

EQ25 Alliance

100 Year Santa Barbara Earthquake Commemoration

1925-2025

History, Events, Activities, Tours

History

Santa Barbara, California Pre 1925 EarthquakeSanta Barbara, California State Street Pre 1925 Earthquake

At dawn on June 29, 1925, the city of Santa Barbara shook with a 6.3 earthquake leaving much of downtown destroyed or heavily damaged.

The twin towers of Mission Santa Barbara collapsed, and eighty-five percent of the commercial buildings downtown were destroyed or badly damaged. A failed dam in the foothills released forty-five million gallons of water, and a gas company engineer became a hero when he shut off the city’s gas supply and prevented fires like those that destroyed San Francisco twenty years earlier following the 1906 earthquake.

It began the morning of June 29, 1925. Early risers noted their pets and livestock seemed agitated. Then at 6:42 am, the primary shock wave ripped through the city for eighteen seconds. Estimated at 6.3 on the Richter scale, the Great Earthquake claimed thirteen lives.

Most of the populace spent the summer sleeping outdoors as aftershocks rolled through the city. Exactly one year later on June 29th, 1926, a sharp aftershock claimed one more life when a collapsing chimney killed a small boy. Over the next decade, the city rebuilt and reinvented itself in the process. Out of the rubble would come a new Santa Barbara with the headline, “Spanish Architecture to Rise from Ruins.”

Santa Barbara, California State Street after the 1925 EarthquakeSanta Barbara, California – State Street after the 1925 Earthquake

Santa Barbara, California after the 1925 EarthquakeHomes were Destroyed

Santa Barbara, California State Street after the 1925 EarthquakeRadio Transmission Went Outdoors

Feeding People after the 1925 EarthquakeThe Santa Barbara Community Came Together to Feed People

Outdoor Post Office after the 1925 EarthquakeOutdoor Post Office

Destroyed Power Plant in Santa Barbara, CADestroyed Power Plant in Santa Barbara, CA

Post Earthquake SuppliesSupplies for the Community

Cottage Hospital after the 1925 EarthquakeCottage Hospital Moved Outdoors

Aerial View of the Corner of Anapamu and State Streets, Santa BarbaraAerial View of the Corner of Anapamu and State Streets, Santa Barbara

Noticias Magazine, Santa  Barbara Historical Society 1925 Earthquake

NOTICIAS
The Santa Barbara Historical Society Magazine
1925: the Big One?
By Robert Easton

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Earthquake 1925 Santa Barbara