United States · Regional archive
California’s built landscape records earthquakes, fires, industrial hazards, state power, collective action, and the communities that changed what came next.
On the ground
Open any marker for the sourced File, or use the chronological index below.
Chronological index
Every result is mapped, sourced, and revision-tracked.
24 October 1871
Calle de los Negros and old Chinatown, represented at El Pueblo, United States
On 24 October 1871, a dispute within Los Angeles's small Chinese community and the shooting of a white bystander became the pretext for a mob assault on …
6 March 1900–11 December 1902
San Francisco Chinatown, represented at Portsmouth Square, United States
The first documented locally acquired human plague infection in the continental United States was identified in San Francisco's Chinatown in March 1900. Public-health workers confronted a real …
18–21 April 1906
San Francisco and the San Andreas Fault rupture zone, United States
At 5:12 a.m. on 18 April, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake ruptured hundreds of kilometers of the San Andreas Fault. Severe shaking damaged communities across northern California. In …
1 October 1910
Former Los Angeles Times Building at First Street and Broadway, United States
At 1:07 a.m. on 1 October 1910, dynamite exploded beside the Los Angeles Times building. The blast and fast-moving fire killed twenty-one people working on the morning …
22 July 1916
West side of Steuart Street just south of Market Street, United States
At 2:06 p.m. on 22 July 1916, a suitcase bomb exploded beside San Francisco's enormous Preparedness Day parade, killing ten people and wounding about forty. Labor activists …
12–13 March 1928
St. Francis Dam ruins in San Francisquito Canyon, United States
Minutes before midnight on 12 March 1928, the two-year-old St. Francis Dam failed in San Francisquito Canyon. Roughly twelve billion gallons of water swept through the Santa …
10 March 1933
Offshore Newport–Inglewood Fault epicenter south of Huntington Beach, United States
At 5:54 p.m. on 10 March 1933, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake ruptured the Newport–Inglewood Fault offshore. Unreinforced masonry failed across Long Beach, Compton, and the Los Angeles …
5 July 1934
Former maritime union headquarters at Mission and Steuart Streets, United States
During the 1934 West Coast maritime strike, employers and city officials tried to reopen San Francisco's port with strikebreakers and police escorts. On 5 July, police fought …
3–8 June 1943
Downtown Los Angeles theater district, represented at Pershing Square, United States
In June 1943, groups of white servicemen moved through Los Angeles attacking, beating, and publicly stripping Mexican American youths identified by zoot suits; Black and Filipino residents …
17 July 1944
Port Chicago Naval Magazine explosion pier and national memorial, United States
Two explosions destroyed the ammunition-loading pier at Port Chicago Naval Magazine on 17 July 1944, killing 320 sailors and civilians. Of the dead, 202 were Black enlisted …
11–17 August 1965
Arrest site at Avalon Boulevard and 116th Street, United States
On 11 August 1965, California Highway Patrol officer Lee Minikus stopped Marquette Frye near Avalon Boulevard and 116th Street and attempted to arrest him for suspected drunk …
20 November 1969–11 June 1971
Alcatraz Island, United States
On 20 November 1969, Native students and activists landed on vacant Alcatraz Island and claimed it as Indian Land. Calling themselves Indians of All Tribes, they demanded …
29 August 1970
Laguna Park, now Ruben F. Salazar Park, United States
On 29 August 1970, an estimated twenty to thirty thousand people marched through East Los Angeles against the Vietnam War and the disproportionate burden borne by Mexican …
27 November 1978
San Francisco City Hall, United States
Former San Francisco supervisor Dan White entered City Hall on 27 November 1978 and shot Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk in their offices. Moscone had …
17 October 1989
Cypress Street Viaduct collapse zone and memorial park, United States
When the magnitude 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake struck on 17 October 1989, a 0.7-mile section of Oakland's double-deck Cypress Street Viaduct collapsed. The upper roadway fell onto …
19–23 October 1991
Fire origin slope above 7151 Buckingham Boulevard, United States
A brush fire above Buckingham Boulevard was controlled on 19 October 1991, then escaped again the next morning under hot, dry Diablo winds. Flames and wind-borne embers …
29 April–4 May 1992
Florence and Normandie flashpoint within a citywide uprising, United States
On 29 April 1992, a Simi Valley jury acquitted four Los Angeles police officers of state charges in the videotaped beating of Rodney King. Anger erupted across …
17 January 1994
USGS epicenter beneath the San Fernando Valley, United States
At 4:30 a.m. on 17 January 1994, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake ruptured a previously unmapped blind thrust fault beneath the San Fernando Valley. Violent shaking collapsed apartments …
12 September 2008
Ventura Subdivision milepost 444.123 near tunnel 28, United States
At 4:22 p.m. on 12 September 2008, westbound Metrolink train 111 collided head-on with an eastbound Union Pacific freight train on single track near Chatsworth. Twenty-five people …
9 September 2010
Line 132 rupture at Earl Avenue and Glenview Drive, United States
At about 6:11 p.m. on 9 September 2010, Pacific Gas and Electric's 30-inch Line 132 ruptured beneath San Bruno's Crestmoor neighborhood. Escaping natural gas ignited, killing eight …
6 August 2012
No. 4 Crude Unit, Chevron Richmond Refinery, United States
On 6 August 2012, severely corroded piping ruptured in the No. 4 Crude Unit at Chevron's Richmond refinery. Hot hydrocarbon liquid formed a large flammable vapor cloud …