Birthday quake as L.A. turns 200
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Sept. 4, 1981: A 5.1 earthquake rocked buildings in downtown Los Angeles, knocking out elevator service and shattering the nerves of residents getting ready to celebrate the city’s 200th birthday.
The offshore quake at 8:51 a.m. was centered 51 miles southwest of Santa Monica, in the Pacific Ocean’s Santa Cruz Island Basin, The Times reported.
Mayor Tom Bradley took the shaking in stride, even though he was hosting a bicentennial breakfast at the Getty House, his Hancock Park residence, when it began.
“None of us at the breakfast even stopped eating,” Bradley said.
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