Evening star., 1933-03-12
NEWS IS FLASHED
AS QUAKE STARTS
Associated Press Pair Had
Waited Eight Years for
Disaster.
BY WALTER B. cLAUSEN.


down the debris from torn buildings.
It so happened that team Of two
men who had been organized for this
| event for eight years were in the As
ISOLATED Press Office at the Times build
! ing here. These were Jack G. Mooney,
veteran telegraph operator, and myself.
was writing the results Of an inter-
view with Prof. Albert Einstein when
| the jolt came. As the chair swayed, I
| clutched the desk to make certain 1t
was an earthquake, planting both feet
solidly against the chair legs. But there
was no uncertainty. This was the mo-
ment had been expecting snce 1926.
A shout to Mooney and he sprang the
10-foot interval between an automatic
printer and a telegraph key, and the
fash of major earthquake In Los
Angeles was on the Nationwide net
onds after the jolt started, and the
bulletin telling Of 1t as violent major
shock was cleared before the remaining
Is SECONDS Of this first great shock.
Expected It Five Weeks.
Ever since the 1925 Santa Barbara
earthquake, which I covered, having
also gone through the San Francisco
disaster of 1906, I had been preparing
for this moment. 1t was . thrill to be
on the Job.
Five weeks ago had been advised
by those who study seismology that q
restlessness Of the great block under
lying Southern California promised .
major movement soon.
With the first news cleared, and
knowledge that communications were
still opened, it was possible for the stan
to peek out the window and see the
debris strewn street. The visible bricks.
half a block away, were from the old
Chamber Of Commerce Building.
A second jolt, five minutes after the
| first, seemed almost as heavy. The
building rocked and swayed as stan
| communication.
The sports editor was first to hit
upon the phone contacts that revealed
Long Beach was cut OF from communi-
cation. While death and destruction
reports were coming in from all points,
| it soon was apparent that the main
area Of havoc rested in triangle. the
apex Of which was In Los Angeles. and
the sides extending toward San Pedro
| and Santa Ana.
This meant Long Beach was In the
center, and that the epicenter Of the
convulsion was in the Pacific OF Long
Beach.
Then rumor reared its head. with
sensational radio reports from auayer.
ing announcers and amateurs. that
Catalina hit by tidal wave," 800 dead
at Long Beach," great tidal wave
coming In on all beach towns" 1900
dead at Terminal Island"
Shocks Keep Coming.
All the time the staff was finding
| itself Jared each s or 10 minutes by
another great shock. Expert knowledge
suggested the possibility OF an even
greater and annihilattng shock to come.
but the one thought on all minds OF the
A. p. staff was to clean up the news,
find out what happened.
A bulletin went to the wire with each
great shock, so should the wire fail,
| the latest word would be out The
sensation was much like being on q
boats, rocking north to south, but later
shocks changed to an unusual twisting
circular movement. =.
The shocks continued at the rate Of
more than one q second. although only
the major ones at s to 10. then ~
minute intervals were felt sumciently
to give one pause to look up 70 see
If the ceiling and walls were coming
down.
It was all Of Southern California
that was getting this rocking. every
portion Of which was well known TO
| the writer, who is . native. The pic
ture flashed as additional reports came
| in, providing o panorama OF the Vast
scene for the minds eye.
The homes Of the wealthy, mAgnin-
cent estates Of Beverly Hills. the can
yons and knolls back Of Hollywood,
Pasadena, San Marino, Atadena, were
getting the thrill Of Q good snak1ng
without much damage.
So to the movies OF Hollywood ana
, Culver City and Universal City 1t was
Just q big movement Tor them, WIZ
such attendant fears and thrills as II
might engender. ..o
In the vast groves from which $loo,-
600 900 Of citrus annually goes to the
world, the orange, lemon and grape
! fruit trees and the avocadoes ana wal
nuts, fruit was shaken down.
Oil Wells In Death Area.
These all we're on the fringe. The
great oil well districts were IN the re.
zion Of havoc, the Signal Hills ana
Huntington Beach, Torrance and Comp
| ton areas, were the scenes OF death.
The homes of the mass OF the TWO
millions Of peoples, the hundreds OF
thousands Of BUNGALOWS in the SOUTH
western area extending down to the
seashore city of Long Beach, founo
furniture turned topsyturvy, dishes ana
priced possessions destroyed.
Perhaps q thousand motor cars were
smashed to bits at the point OF great-
est danger, at the sidewalks o! tne
business districts, where store ronS
fell .~
worked INCREASINGLY As the picture
clarified itself, with rumor separated
from fact, duplicate reports OF deatn
| weeded out and some more aoeQuate
picture Of the damage coming TO view.
with the daylight the scene OF re-
lief work was presented, but there was
no cessation Of the recurrent shocks,
merely Q larger time interval between
them. .
Speeding through police, Marine
! Legion, naval cordons. q rapid pano-
rama tnfolded. The actual picture re.
placed the minds eye view. With It
came the sensation Of job well done
by the scores Of Associated Press neld
sources In the accuracy with which
they helped to build up the true scene.
Masses Walking Streets.
Beyond all the scene Of death and
destruction, the tragic ruins, the pitt
| able cries in hospitals, the effective area
patrol, one picture loomed uppermost in
It's impression.
It was the masses, men, women and
| children, mostly without hats and many
i coatless, that walked slowly up and
down the main business section streets,
J not SO much looking at the ruins, but
| just walking. That took their minds
! of the strange, quivering, jolting, twist
Ing earth movements that to so many
were fearsome. They could not feel the
shocks while walking.
And so unto the night, and the rock
ing still goes on.
| REOPENING ORDERED