Historian Reflects on Earthquake Anniversary

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) When historian Neal Graffy looked at the calendar two deadly earthquake anniversaries came to mind.

The Santa Barbara Earthquake on June 29, 1925 and the June 29, 1926.

Neal Graffy said the 1925 quake took eleven lives.

The quake exactly one year later killed a little boy.

Colin "Sonny" Orr, 3, was fatally struck on the head by a brick from a collapsing chimney while visiting the backyard of Ira D. and Margaret Altschul at 401 Bath Street.

Investigators said the chimney had been repaired by Long Beach based contractor who used "inferior" green lime for mortar following the the damage from the 1925 quake.

Orr and his mother and little brother had walked over to the Altschuls from their home on Haley Street.

When the quake struck at 3:21 p.m. the boys were playing as the Jeanie Orr a d Margaret Altschul watched from the porch.

Graffy said both quakes happened on hot days with temperatures in the triple digits.

The 1926 quake also followed a week of tremors in La Mesa and Bakersfield, California.

Large quakes also starting shaking places around the world, including France, Italy, Greece, northern Africa, and India.

On June 24-25th a large earthquake killed at least 1700 people in Venezuela where rescue efforts are still underway.

A quake also rattled Willits, California on June 24.

Children selling juice and brownies by the Old Santa Barbara Mission Rose Garden said they learned to what to do during the California Shakeout Drills at their schools.

Banksia Cunningham & Hayden Anderson said they learned to drop, cover and hold on.T

Graffy said he hoped the anniversaries and recent earthquake remind people to prepare by creating an emergency plan and having emergency supplies in convenient locations.

For more information visit https://earthquakecountry.org

Downtown Santa Barbara owes its Spanish Colonial Revival Style to quake repairs that began more than a century ago.

Your News Channel will have more on the the past and current earthquakes tonight on the news.