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You are here: Home / Daily Lives / Mission Leveled by Quake, Tsunami Seen off Central Coast

Mission Leveled by Quake, Tsunami Seen off Central Coast

By Damian Bacich

Tsunamis are a fact of life in seismic California, as mission history reminds us.

Dr. Dan Krieger is Professor Emeritus of History at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and a leading expert on the California missions. He relates the story of  a tsunami that occurred off California’s central coast while Father Luis Gil y Taboada was stationed at Mission Santa Barbara.

The padre experienced the effects of a magnitude 7.2 earthquake centered offshore, one which swiftly took its toll on vulnerable structures. Missions up and down the central and coast of California were damaged, some beyond repair. According to Krieger,

Within several minutes, it leveled Mission La Purisima to “rubble and ruin, presenting the picture of a destroyed Jerusalem.”

For those who remembered the event decades later, what happened next was terrifying:

The sea withdrew and turned into what appeared to be a tall hill. [Fr. Luis] and all of the people from the presidio took off running toward the mission, singing litanies to the Virgin.

Over two centuries have past since the big tsunami of 1812.  I personally have been through several earthquakes, including the 1989 Loma Prieta shaker, but never a tsunami — yet.
We know that California has always had to deal with earthquakes and the occasional tsunami. Can the past tell us something about the future?

Read Prof. Krieger’s full article here.

Filed Under: Daily Lives, Franciscans, Spanish Missions Tagged With: Mission La Purisima

About Damian Bacich

Damian Bacich, Ph.D. writes about California and the West. He is also a professor, translator and historical researcher. You can learn more about Damian here.

I’m Dr. Damian Bacich, and I started the California Frontier Project. Learn more about me and the project here.

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