Winters Earthquake Festival – It’s Our Fault and We’re Proud of It!
WINTERS, CALIF.–When night watchman, S. N. Bettis, walked down Main Street at 2:50 a.m., lantern in hand, his attention was attracted by a rumbling sound coming from the hills west of town. The noise resembled distant thunder or the roaring of water which had suddenly been let loose by the bursting of huge dam gates. Bettis stood still and listened a few seconds, while the noise increased to a roar and the ground beneath his feet seemed to heave up . . .
‘I felt as if I was on the deck of a vessel during a heavy storm, and I put my hands to the ground to prevent myself from falling on my face . . . After that brick walls and chimneys began to fall all around and the noise for a minute or so was deafening!’
The Great Winters Earthquake of 1892 brought about devastating destruction but from the rubble, a new city was born. Each year the City of Winters celebrates that great quake with an Earthquake Festival.
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