Visalia Escapes Serious Seismic Jolts

The word earthquake sends shivers down the spine of even the bravest of adventurers. And it's understandable! They are unpredictable, out of our control, and can cause death and destruction.

Rarely, if ever, has Visalia been at the epicenter of an earthquake, but the town has felt many of Mother Nature's tremors. One of the earliest recorded earthquakes felt in Visalia happened on January 9, 1857. It was a big one and widespread hitting shortly after 8 a.m.

Much of California felt it, including San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Bernardino. Witnesses in Tulare County claimed the shaking lasted 10-20 minutes. Accompanying the jolts came deep rumbling sounds. No property was damaged or injuries reported. About three years later, another small quake shook the town.

Visalians felt another tremor just after dinner on July 5, 1871. Conyer's Drug Store noted that their medicine bottles "were considerably agitated." One customer reported feeling slightly nauseated from the jolt that lasted just a few seconds.

On March 26, 1872 at about 2:30 a.m., another one visited Visalia described in the Visalia Weekly Delta as "the most extraordinary earthquake we have ever experienced. It was a series of bumps accompanied by a great deal of noise, resembling the roar of distant cannoning..." The people of Visalia scrambled out of their homes and into the streets. Julia Lumberry who was confined in jail "was badly terrified and her screams to be let out were heartrending to hear."

Porterville, too, felt the strong effects with several chimneys collapsing. Drug stores lost bottles of medicine as the glass containers fell from shelves to the floor. The quake had made an obvious visit to Tulare County, but fortunately, there was no loss of life. On the other hand, Lone Pine, the epicenter in Inyo County, wasn't nearly as lucky with numerous deaths and considerable destruction.

The massive San Francisco earthquake was probably California's biggest, most deadly and destructive in the state's history. And Visalia felt that one, too. On April 18, 1906, at about 5 a.m., Visalians were startled from sleep with three distinct shocks. Pictures fell off the walls and water troughs overflowed. The jolts were so strong they stopped the movement of the clock pendulum in the tower on the Bank of Visalia building.

For Visalia, the effects of the earthquake were a minor annoyance and a serious scare, but for the people of San Francisco, the massive earthquake and resulting fire was absolutely devastating. The final toll in property damage and loss of life is not precisely known, but certainly the damage was in the hundreds of millions of dollars and hundreds of lives were lost.

At a late hour on December 20, 1932, Visalia was hit with another quake. Two back-to-back tremors woke many Visalians. Dishes and windows rattled. Early reports indicated that theater-goers panicked and raced out of the movie houses for safety, but these rumors were unfounded. Phone lines were swamped, but only minor damage was reported in the city.

Visalians were again awakened early on March 15, 1946, by a series of jolts. The first shock came at shortly after 5 a.m. Three more jolts came within the next two hours. Witnesses heard dishes clattering in cupboards, and chandeliers swayed. No damage or injuries were reported.

Before the first tremor, veteran Visalia fireman Ernest F. Wood shared that he could hear the earthquake coming in advance and told his wife, "We are going to get a shock." Sure enough, the shock jolted the town and his wife asked, "How did you know it was coming?" He said he could hear it before the shaking began.

In 1983, the southern San Joaquin Valley was hit with a 6.7 magnitude earthquake. It was centered about five miles from the town of Coalinga on an undetected fault line. The little Fresno County town suffered massive damage although no deaths were reported. Many residents sustained injuries. Visalia and other valley towns felt the shake but only minor damage was reported.

Earthquakes are a fact of life in California. When Charles Richter, the scientist who created the equipment used to determine earthquake intensity, was asked where someone could go in California to avoid an earthquake, he answered, "Nowhere...there is almost no part of California where one might not expect a good-sized earthquake. The eventual occurrence of a serious earthquake is about as near to certainty as anything..."