Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1902-08-07
A TOWN IN RUINS.
An Earthquake Completely De
stroys Los Alamos, Cal.
Hundreds 81 People Fled for TheiI
Livcs-Not One Brick Building ia
the Town LEI: Standing-The
Ground Kent with Cap
ing FIssures.

San Luis Obispo, Cal, Aug. IA
strip of country Is miles long by four
miles wide, rent with gaping tissures
and dotted with hills and knobs that
sprung up during the night as if by
magic, n village in ruins and hundreds
of people fleeing for their lives, are
the results of Wednesday nights
seismic disturbances in the valley of
Los Alamos, in the northern part of
Santa Barbara county. During the
last four days that section of coun-
try has been shaken by series of
earthquakes that is without prece-
dent in the history of the Pacific
coast, and the continuance of the
disturbances and the increasing se-
verify of the shocks have so terror
lied the inhabitants that they are
leaving for other parts as rapidly as
possible, and even now the village is
almost entirely deserted.
The disturbance began on Sunday
evening with Il shock, which caused
much damage to property in the VII
lage and the surrounding country,
being more severe and more disas-
trous in the vicinity of the Western
Oil Co.'S oil wells on the Carriga
ranch. This shock was followed by
number of disturbances less severe,
continuing through the remainder of
Sunday night and Monday. On Tues
day night there were seven shocks,
all of which were light. In action
these disturbances resembled the
waves on a pond of water. The most
severe shock of the entire series OC-
CURED at 1870 o'clock Thursday morn
ing.
Hills were shaken and twisted to
their foundations and the valleys
trembled and rolled like the unstable
surface of the ocean. Great assures
were run deep in the earth, hills and
knobs appeared in level valleys,
springs of water appeared in places
that had been dry, and the general
topography of the valley was great
ly changed in many respects. The
disturbance had no general direction,
but was what is known as "A twist
er."
When the most serious shock had
passed and the rumbling sound had
died away, the people gathered N
groups about the ruins of their homes
and places of business and when they
saw the extent of the damage many
of them, fearful of Il repetition of
this experience, started on foot or by
any conveyance that could be had,
for places where the previous shocks
had been less severe. With the dawn
of day the stricken village had the
appearance of the ruins of Il city long
deserted.
\ church had been levclcd to the
ground and not one brick building
was left standing. Chimneys had
toppled over. frame buildings had
been wrenched apart and thrown
from their foundations, telegraph
and telephone wires had been broken
and there was not Il building in town
that had not been damaged more or
less. In store buildings the merchan-
disc was thrown from shelves and
everything breaiablc was dcstroyed;
not a pane of glass was left in any
window i'm town, and in those frame
dwelling houses that were left stand
ing. stoves were overturned and
crockery and glassware We're de-
stroyed. \ conservative estimate of
the loss to property in the village is
$4,000.
The shock was felt throughout
Santa Barbara and San Louis Obispo
counties. At the Western Union oil
wells on the Carriga ranch two tanks
were wrecked and much other dam
age was done.