The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-04-22
PACIFIC COAST IS
TERRORIzED by
AN EARTHQUAKE
Two Towns Suffer Severely
From Series of Shocks.
TremOrs Extend Into Arizona
and Utah.
PROPERTY DAMAGE GROWING
Los Angeles Fears for Large
Office Buildings.
Large Buildings at Long Beach
Severely Shaken.
PROPERTY DAMAGE GROWING

Los Angeles, April 22.-More than
oDe-third OF the business district OF
San Jacinto and a smaller proportion
OF that of Hemet, both in Riverside
county, about seventy miles east OF
here, were in ruins today and scores
of residences in the two little towns
were wrecked by a series of earth
quake shocks which caused all OF
southern California to tremble late
yesterday afternoon The properly
damage is estimated at from 100000
to $4,000 in the two places. Half
dozen other towns and cities, includ-
ing Los Angeles suffered minor dam
age, confined mainly to plate glass
windows and shattered cornices.
Helmet and San Jacinto have popu-
lations, of less than one thousand
each. Their industries chiefly are
dairying and ranching with lumber
and various kinds or mining. The
towns are about three miles apart ana
lie in a picturesque country which
was made the scene of Helen Hunt
Jacksons famous novel Ramona.
Panic in Pic turc Theaters.
Only one life was known to have
been lost as the result of the earth
quake, that of Frank E. Darnell,
retired manufacturer of this city, who
was drowned when he fell off a pier
at Santa Monica, beach resort near
here Hundreds of pleasure seekers
on the pier made a wild dash for
solid ground when the shock came at
3:33 p. and DarneH was swept
from his feet. There were near pan1cs
in scores of theaters and motion pic
ture houses in this vicinity and many
persons sustained slight injuries IN
Etheir rush to the exits.
When night fell over the partly
ruined towns of Helmet and San ia
cinto order had been completely re-
| stored and organizations of home
guards patrolled the debris-littered
streets. The first tremor threw to the
ground a number of persons and
horses. At the second shock all the
buildings on the south side of the
main street began to collapse and the
third shook down those on the north
side.
| Gas Mains Broken.
! Electricity failed Immediately and
within ten minutes the breaking of the
gas mains made it necessary to shut
| off the supply. The water mains were
| damaged but little.
| One of the freaks of the earthquake
was the sudden flow in wells. Many
! artesia1 wells, several dry for years,
| This sudden increase of water mani
| tested itself particularly in the San
Jacinto river. Before the earthquake
| it was dry.
Some Strange Incidents.
Immediately after the tremor the
river at point below the town
depth and forty feet in width.
| The earthquake of yesterday was al
most a repetition of that of Christmas
day, 1899, when the two towns suf-
fered shocks of like severity.
| Fear was expressed in Los Angeles
that several large offices buildings had
been thrown out of plumb. While to
the casual observer this report ap-
peared to be justified, a survey will
have to be undertaken to learn the
truth. The Washington building. a
large business structure on Spring
street, was perceptibly separated from
the Currier building Immediately ad-
joining
Sanitarium Patient Hurt.
Mrs. Mary Scear of Chicago. a pa
tient at the Iona Linda sanitarium
south of Redlands, San Bernardino
county, was injured when two Chin
neys fell thru the roof.
At a magnesite mine near Helmet
and at one in the vicinity of Winches-
which followed the earths convul-
sions. Air shafts were forced to them
| thru the debris. Several injured min
ers were taken to a hospital in Riv-
erside. Scores of plate glass windows
were broken at San Bernardino
cracks developed in brick walls and
100 feet of brick wall from one low
building fell into one street.
Concrete Roads Suffer.
One man was hurt in a panic at
the San Bernardino baseball park
where a game was in progress. An
other rushing out of a theater into
the street was run down by an auto
mobile and seriously injured The
front of the i. 0. o. F. building at
Banning fell out.
! Large office buildings at Long
Beach were severely shaker and
numerous windows broken
| Concrete roads and highways lea d.
! ing from Perris to Helmet and to San
Jacinto were broken and buckled by
the quake. The earthquake was felt
over a wide area, its most northern ex-
| tremity apparently was Fresno. Cal
Tremors also were felt at Phoenix and
| Seligmar Arizona, and at Milford