All the reports agree the damage occurred within a couple of cycles of the ground motion. There was one person looking at the old courthouse, who saw it swing back and forth three or four times and fall. Everything seemed to fall in Santa Rosa at the same time. |
What everyone describes is they heard the earthquake before it started, this large roar that approached from the west. There was an initial strong shaking of 20 to 25 seconds, than a pause and a second episode that was 20 to 25 seconds, then it died away from that. The second shaking was described as stronger than the first. |