From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

1949 Olympia earthquake

Earthquake in Washington state

Field	Value
title	1949 Olympia earthquake
timestamp	1949-04-13 19:55:43
isc-event	896466
anss-url	iscgem896466
local-date
local-time	11:55:44
map2	{{Location map+	Washington
{{Location map~	Washington	lat	47.04	long=-122.89	label=Olympia	label_size=100	position=left	mark=Green pog.svg}}
{{Location map~	Washington	lat	47.61	long=-122.33	label=Seattle	label_size=100	mark=Green pog.svg}}
{{Location map~	Washington	lat	47.24	long=-122.46	label=Tacoma	label_size=100	mark=Green pog.svg}}
{{Location map~	Washington	lat	47.0	long=-122.53	mark=Bullseye1.png	marksize=40}}
relief	1
width	250
float	right
caption	}}
duration	~ 20 seconds
damage	$25 million
magnitude	6.7
depth	50 km
location
countries affected	Puget Sound region
Washington
United States
intensity
PGA	0.25 g
casualties	8 killed
At least 64 injured

|isc-event = 896466 |anss-url = iscgem896466 |local-date = |local-time = 11:55:44 Washington United States At least 64 injured The 1949 Olympia earthquake occurred on April 13 at 11:55:44 local time with a moment magnitude of 6.7 and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of VIII (Severe). The shock was located in the area between Olympia and Tacoma, and was felt throughout the state, as well as parts of Oregon, British Columbia, Idaho, and Montana. It is the largest recorded earthquake to occur in the Puget Sound region of Washington. Eight people were killed, a minimum of 64 people were injured, and the total damage is estimated at $25 million.

Damage

Damage in Olympia from the earthquake was estimated between $500,000 and $1 million by Governor Arthur B. Langlie. Eight buildings on the State Capital campus were damaged by the earthquake, as well as the Old Capitol Building in downtown Olympia. A 23-ton cradle on the east tower of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge fell 500 ft, injuring two men. The earthquake caused geysers to explode along the railroad track in the Tacoma tidal flats and in Puyallup.

In Seattle, nearly every building in the Pioneer Square neighborhood was affected in some way, with damage ranging from lost parapets to entire floors and in some cases entire buildings needing to be demolished over the following years. Most buildings still show the scars of earthquake damage and the mostly hasty repairs made to them.

Chimneys throughout western Washington collapsed. Severe damage were recorded at schools in Adna and Napavine, and structural losses to buildings in Centralia's downtown district. The earthquake caused catastrophic loss to two schools in Chehalis, a state training school for youths and West Side Elementary; neither were rebuilt.

Eight people were killed, including young crossing guard Marvin Klegman who shielded a second-grader from falling bricks. At least 64 people were injured, and the total damage is estimated at $25 million.

References

(April 19, 1949). "Olympia Damage Half Million, Says Langlie". The Seattle Daily Times.
(April 13, 1949). "Earthquake Listed as Major; 5 Dead; Damage in Millions". The Seattle Daily Times.
(February 17, 2007). "1949 Was Earth-Shaking, Heart-Breaking Time Here". The Chronicle.
(March 31, 2007). "Florence Kennicott Lived a Colorful Life". The Chronicle.
McNair-Huff, Rob & Natalie. (2016). "Washington Disasters". Rowman & Littlefield.
(1987). "Source parameters of the 1949 magnitude 7.1 south Puget Sound, Washington, earthquake as determined from long-period body waves and strong ground motions". Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.
ISC. (2014). "ISC-GEM Global Instrumental Earthquake Catalogue (1900–2009)". [[International Seismological Centre]].
(1993). "Seismicity of the United States, 1568–1989 (Revised)". [[United States Government Printing Office]].
"Earthquake damage in Pioneer Square, Seattle, April 13, 1949".

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1949-earthquakes natural-disasters-in-washington-(state) earthquakes-in-washington-(state) 1949-in-washington-(state) 1949-natural-disasters-in-the-united-states april-1949-in-the-united-states

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1949 Olympia earthquake — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report