Evening star., 1952-07-22
Quake Leaves II Dead
And Is Hurt; Damage
Runs Into Millions
BY the Assoeioted Press


TEHACHAPI, Calf, July o.
With II persons dead and more
than IS injured, Southern Cali
fornia today began counting the
cost Of the second strongest earth
quake in the States recorded his
tory.
Focal point of the death and
ruin was this farming community
of 1000 on the edge of the Mo-
jave Desert, which caught the full
fury of the bucking, rumbling up
heaval that struck in the dark
hour before dawn yesterday.
But here, as in other stricken
areas, officials said it was too
early to put dollar sign on dam
age which appears certain to
mount into millions.
Scientists calculated that the
quake, felt from San Francisco to
the Mexican border, centered in
the rugged Tehachapi Mountains,
10 miles south of here.
Nine of Dead Are Children.
Ten persons, nine of them chill
dren, died in this town as the
walls came tumbling down. The
eleventh was crushed in the col
lapse of a guest house roof at a
nearby ranch. Twenty-Five per-
sons required disqualification.
Virtually every large business
building here was damaged. The
main street, deep in rubble, looked
like q scene from q bombed out
city.
The Red Cross reported 81 busi-
ness houses suffered major dam
age, with Is per cent a total loss.
Fifteen homes were destroyed, So
severely damaged and nearly 100
incurred minor damage.
About 100 persons took shelter
at a Red Cross station in a city
park last night, but the relief Or
ganization said there are ample
facilities to care for homeless.
Warren Finds No Emergency.
Gov. Earl Warren declared after
an inspection Of the scene late
yesterday that it would not be
necessary to declare q state of
emergency.
At the nearby Women's State
Prison AIT inmates spent the
night in tents on the grounds
after officials declared the six
major buildings unsafe.
At Arvin, a community Of 5000
18 miles west. damage in the busi-
ness section was almost as severe.
The city's main street was mass
of Wreckage. The fronts were
knocked out of almost all build
ings. Water, power and gas
services were temporarily cut of.
But despite the destruction, no
serious injuries were reported.
Four Rail Tunnels Blocked.
Roads leading into and around
the Tehachapi area were buckled
and blocked by landslides, but by
nightful all but one main highway,
State 178 through Walker Pass,
had been cleared. Caveins blocked
four Southern Pacific Railroad
tunnels which officials said could
not be cleared for days.
In scores of other communities,
from the coast to the Nevada bor-
der, windows cracked, chandeliers
fell, cornices toppled and high
tension lines parted in showers Of
sparks.
In Los Angeles, where many
areas were without power during
the morning. water sloshed out of
swimming pools. Water and oil
storage tanks sprang leaks. There
was a fire in a refinery at Bakers
field and an explosion in q refinery
at Long Beach. The most COM
mon loss reported: Crockery.
DR.. Beno Gutenberg, director of
the chronological laboratory at the
California Institute of Technology
in Pasadena. said aftershocks of
the great quake, probably Of lesser
intensity, will continue for two or
three years.
AftershOckS Continue.
He said only the disastrous San
Francisco earthquake Of 1906 ex-
eeeded yesterdays in power. The
smaller Long Beach tremor of