St. Francis Dam Failure 1928

In 1928, California suffered one of the worst engineering disasters in U.S. history when the St. Francis Dam failed in the middle of the night. The collapse unleashed a 120-foot wall of water that tore through sleeping communities, killing 431 people and carving a path of destruction more than 50 miles west to Ventura.

Investigators found that the dam had been built on a fault zone and couldn't withstand the stresses of holding back so much water. The dam's chief engineer accepted full blame, famously testifying, "If there was an error in human judgment, I was the human."

Previous Fact Next Fact