Failed Sheffield Dam after the earthquake, Santa Barbara, 1925

Item Overview

Title

Failed Sheffield Dam after the earthquake, Santa Barbara, 1925

Date Created

June 29, 1925

Date

1925-06-29

Publisher

Los Angeles Times

Language

No linguistic content

Collection

Los Angeles Times Photographic Collection

Notes

Description

On June 29, 1925 at 6:42 am a major earthquake hit the area of Santa Barbara. It was 19 seconds in duration and registered 6.8 on the Richter magnitude scale. The downtown of Santa Barbara was destroyed, the Sheffield Dam collapsed, and thirteen people died. The facade of the Mission Santa Barbara was severely damaged and lost its statues. Three persons thought to shut off the town electricity and gas, thereby preventing catastrophic fire. The city was rebuilt in a unified Spanish Colonial Revival style in 1925-1929.
Detail view of broken concrete on a section of the failed Sheffield Dam after the June 29 earthquake. The earthquake liquefied the soil beneath the concrete-faced, compacted earth dam and a section moved downstream 100 feet.

Caption

Text from negative sleeve: Earthquakes, Santa Barbara

Physical Description

Extent

1 photograph

Medium

b&w nitrate negative

Keywords

Genre

news photographs
cellulose nitrate film

Location

Santa Barbara (Calif.)

Longitude

34.44461

Latitude

-119.693255

Resource type

still image

Subjects

Reservoirs--California--Santa Barbara
Sheffield Reservoir (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
Dam failures--California--Santa Barbara
Earthquakes--California--Santa Barbara
Sheffield Dam Failure, Calif., 1925