Historic Earthquakes

Daly City, California
1957 March 22 19:44:21 UTC Magnitude 5.3
1957 March 23 08:13:48 UTC Magnitude 4.2

These earthquakes caused property damage estimated at $1 million and injured about 40 people. The first and strongest shock caused one death. Minor damage at several houses was reported along the ocean in the Westlake-Palisades tract, west of Daly City. Many chimneys were damaged at Daly City. In San Francisco, damage to chimneys, plaster, windows, and merchandise was widespread. The pavement along the edge of Lake Merced sloughed off into the lake, and both ends of a pedestrian bridge collapsed. Landslides blocked State Highway 1 near Mussel Rock, and the shoulder of the highway was cracked extensively.

The main shock was felt over a moderate area of west-central California, and many aftershocks were observed. The shock on March 23 caused slight damage at Menlo Park and San Francisco.

Abridged from Seismicity of the United States, 1568-1989 (Revised), by Carl W. Stover and Jerry L. Coffman, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1527, United States Government Printing Office, Washington: 1993.