EARTHQUAKE DAMAGE TO SCHOOLS

Crumbled Walls of High School in Long Beach, CA Earthquake

Earthquake of March 10, 1933, Long Beach, California, USA. Location: 5 km southwest of Newport Beach; Seriously Affected Area: 1,200 km2; Damage: 40 million. Schools were among the buildings most severely damaged because they were not designed to resist shaking. In addition to the damage to the schools at Long Beach, the schools at Buena Park were badly damaged, there was considerable damage to schools at Lomita, and two schools were damaged at Redondo Beach. Great loss of life would have occurred if the shock had taken place during school hours. Unlike the 1906 San Francisco earthquake the loss due to fire in the 1933 earthquake was almost negligible. Walls crumbled at Alexander Hamilton Jr. High School on State Street. Photo Credit: W.L. Huber.