1872 Owens Valley earthquake
 Lone Pine fault scarp | |
  San Diego Sacramento Lone Pine  | |
| UTC time | 1872-03-26 10:30 |
|---|---|
| USGS-ANSS | ComCat |
| Local date | March 26, 1872 |
| Local time | 02:30 [1] |
| Magnitude | 7.4 Mw [2] |
| Epicenter | 36°42′N 118°06′W / 36.7°N 118.1°W [1] |
| Type | Oblique-slip[2] |
| Areas affected | Eastern California United States |
| Total damage | $250,000 / limited [3] |
| Max. intensity | MMI X (Extreme)[1] |
| Casualties | 27 killed [1][4] 56 injured [3] |
| Official name | Grave of 1872 Earthquake Victims[5] |
| Reference no. | 507 |
The 1872 Owens Valley earthquake – also known as the Lone Pine earthquake – struck on March 26 at 02:30 local time in the
Tectonic setting
The earthquake resulted from sudden vertical movement of 15 to 20 feet (4.6 to 6.1 m) and right-lateral movement of 35 to 40 feet (11 to 12 m) on the Lone Pine Fault and part of the Owens Valley Fault. These
Earthquake
The earthquake occurred on a Tuesday morning and leveled almost all the buildings in Lone Pine and nearby settlements.
The quake was felt strongly as far away as Sacramento, where citizens were startled out of bed and into the streets. Giant rockslides in what is now Yosemite National Park woke naturalist John Muir, then living in Yosemite Valley, who reportedly ran out of his cabin shouting, "A noble earthquake!" and promptly made a moonlit survey of the fresh talus piles. This earthquake stopped clocks and awakened people in San Diego to the south, Red Bluff, to the north, and Elko, Nevada, to the east. The shock was felt over most of California and much of Nevada. Thousands of aftershocks occurred, some severe. [citation needed]
Aftermath
Researchers later estimated that similar earthquakes occur on the Lone Pine fault every 3,000–4,000 years. However, the Lone Pine fault is only one of many faults on two parallel systems.
This earthquake also formed a small graben that later was filled by water, forming 86-acre (350,000 m2) Diaz Lake.[6]
The common grave of the earthquake's victims is now registered as California Historical Landmark #507.[5]
California Historical Landmark
Grave of 1872 Earthquake Victims is a California Historical Landmark number 507, assigned on July 31, 1953.
The California Historical Landmark reads:
- NO. 507 GRAVE OF 1872 EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS- On March 26, 1872, a major earthquake shook Owens Valley, nearly destroying the town of Lone Pine. About fourteen of its victims (the exact number is not known) were interred in a common grave, enclosed by this fence. [7]
See also
- Inyo County, California
- List of earthquakes in California
- List of earthquakes in the United States
- List of historical earthquakes
References
- ^ United States Government Printing Office, pp. 73, 105
- ^
- ^ doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K
- ^ a b "State's Biggest Quake Struck 100 Years Ago". Los Angeles Times. Mar 26, 1972.
- ^ a b "Grave of 1872 Earthquake Victims". Office of Historic Preservation, California State Parks. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
- ISBN 978-0-520-24932-5.
- ^ "No. 507 Earthquake Victims Grave". californiahistoricallandmarks.com. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
- Bibliography
- Amos, C. B.; Lutz, A. T.; Jayko, A. S.; Mahan, S. A.; Fisher, G. Burch; Unruh, J. R. (2013), "Refining the Southern Extent of the 1872 Owens Valley Earthquake Rupture through Paleoseismic Investigations in the Haiwee Area, Southeastern California", Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 103 (2A): 1022–1037,
- ISBN 978-0-87842-362-0.