Exhibit’s Shuddering Preview : 8.3? Simulated Quake Figure a Little Shaky

It shook, all right. But an 8.3?

The Museum of Science and Industry Friday unveiled what it termed “the most comprehensive earthquake exhibit in the nation,” a make-believe living room capable of holding 20 edgy people and subjecting them to a mechanically produced temblor.

On schedule, the simulator stopped shaking and a television newscaster proclaimed gravely on a video monitor, “The quake has been measured at 8.3 on the Richter scale. It seems that this indeed was the Big One that’s been predicted for so long.”

Most of those on hand for the shuddering preview weren’t so sure.

“A 5.2,” guessed Donald R. Irwin, deputy director of the California Office of Emergency Services.

“Somewhere in the 5 to 6 range,” suggested Jeff Rudolph, deputy director of the museum.

“In the 6 range,” curator Eugene B. Gendel estimated.

Under the logarithmic Richter scale, a 5.2 shake would have less than one 1,000th of the force of the 8.3 temblor the exhibit was supposed to be simulating.

Nobody Would Come for a 3.5

Museum officials were quick to explain they couldn’t afford to be realistic. Actually staging an 8.3 would injure most of the people visiting the exhibit. On the other hand, billing it as a lesser quake wouldn’t draw a crowd.

“To be honest with you,” Gendel said, “I don’t think anyone would come down for a 3.5.”

Probably not in California, anyway.

Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson, who helped develop the exhibit, explained: “The object here is to be educational rather than sensational. I was in Japan and saw something of this kind in a department store. But it was so crudely done. The intensity was such that it was really dangerous. You could have fallen down and hurt yourself.”

The exhibit, sponsored by E. F. Hutton and Co., includes displays showing how to cope with a major quake. Instructions on how to turn off the gas and water, for instance. Where to stand in the house when the Big One hits. There is also a box of survival provisions.

The exhibit opens to the public today.