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.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday November 28, 2006 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 46 words Type of Material: Correction
Mayor's house: A "Times Past" item in the Sept. 4 Section A described Mayor Tom Bradley's holding a bicentennial breakfast at his residence, the Getty House, when an earthquake occurred in 1981. The item said Getty House was in Hancock Park. It is in Windsor Square.
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.
