It's the 78th anniversay of the earthquake that reshaped Santa Barbara in so many ways. At 6:44 AM on June 29, 1925 Santa Barbarans were thrown out of bed by what has since been labeled a 6.8 quake that was followed by 264 aftershocks.
As with any cataclysmic event it gave people an opportunity to re-think a lot of things. For instance, city officials had the opportunity to enforce stricter building codes and require downtown commercial businesses to adhere to a Spanich-Moorish architecture. This distinctive architecture has made Santa Barbara a popular tourist destination for over 70 years.
Posted by gandlwoods at June 29, 2003 07:29 AM