26 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY 



it from two reputable eye witnesses is that a part 

 of one building only was thrown down, and that 

 this was the false, brick-front of a house of wood, 

 without any binding between the two structures what- 

 soever. The affair invited destruction from the least 

 vibration that might disturb its equilibrium, and it 

 was a wonder to all who saw it that it could ever have 

 stood at all. 



We are greatly indebted to Mr. J. B. Lippincott and 

 Mr. John Gaffey for information concerning the old 

 structures of the region. The latter, who is an old 

 and respected citizen of Los Angeles well versed in 

 its history and traditions, has said that in so far as 

 he knows the Church of the Angles at the Plaza has 

 never been injured by an earthquake, nor has the San 

 Gabriel Mission. Both buildings are in excess of 

 one hundred and twenty-five years old. He also 

 states that there are many interesting old houses 

 of the Spanish period still standing in the Los 

 Angeles region which testify to the general safety 

 during much of the time that earthquakes have 

 been recorded in Southern California. A number of 

 these old houses from eighty to one hundred years 

 old may still be found north of the Plaza and on New 

 High Street. The Camulos house, near Saugus is 

 one hundred years old. The former Sepulveda Man- 

 sion at San Pedro, built in 1840 and taken down in 

 1913, was never injured by an earthquake. The Dom- 

 inguez mansion, some eighty years old, has also never 

 been inqured. 



Nothwithstanding the evidence above presented Dr. 

 Willis asserts that the last great shock in Southern 

 California was in 1857, or seventy years ago. He called 



