A Retrospective Look at the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake: Historical Context, Impact, and Modern Science
Susan Hough
USGS
- Date & Time
- Location
- Online-only seminar via Microsoft Teams
- Summary
At estimated magnitude 6.4, the Long Beach earthquake was only moderately large. Whereas the 1906 San Francisco earthquake had a profound impact on earthquake science, leading to the development of elastic rebound theory, the Long Beach earthquake arguably had a larger impact on earthquake risk reduction. The earthquake occurred at a pivotal time, after the start of earthquake monitoring in southern California, but at a time when the severity of earthquake hazard in southern California was still debated. Moreover, at the time, earthquake professionals did not appreciate the potential severity of hazard from moderately large earthquakes. The earthquake that rocked southern California 90 years ago this month took a grim toll on lives and property, including 120 deaths. But the earthquake also knocked the region out of its complacency. By virtue of its timing, early in the emergence of the Los Angeles region as a preeminent population center, the 1933 earthquake had an outsized impact on earthquake risk reduction. The earthquake set California on a path towards improved resilience that continues to this day. In this talk I present an overview of the historical context of the event, its impact on science and risk reduction, and modern scientific results that shed new light on the earthquake and distribution of ground motions.
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