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in the commune of Gouraya and many people were injured. It is said that about hun-
dred people were killed in farms near Gouraya due to bad local traditional housing
units called “gourbis”. The cost of damage was estimated, by the administration, at
47,000 French Francs. The earthquake was felt over an area of 300 km; in Djelfa,
240 km south of Gouraya, where the shock was noticed by very few persons.
The earthquake caused widespread damage in the epicentral area mainly asso-
ciated with the high vulnerability of the traditional housing units. All the sources
of information concentrate on the destruction and serious damage in the localities
of Gouraya and Villebourg and their close farms. Gouraya was almost razed, 53
European houses collapsed as the country police barracks and the telegraph house
were heavily damaged beyond repair. Several traditional houses and even concrete
structures in villages crashed down. At Villebourg, 22 houses out of 24 were almost
totally demolished; the remaining sections of walls are disconnected, the founda-
tions unusable and the factory of Oued Mellah is described as an accumulation
of ruins. The Bonefoy farm located between Gouraya and Villebourg was com-
pletely destroyed. Several houses were shattered at Marceau (Menaceur nowadays)
and Blida but more precise details are lacking. At Montenotte (Oued Allalah near
Tenes) some buildings sustained damage and several ceilings collapsed and at El
Affroun several houses cracked. At Kolea, an individual house collapsed and the
losses were severe. At Orleansville, a report mentions some cracks and damaged
ceilings as well as broken glasses and many overturned objects. No serious damage
nor casualty are reported at Tenes where only few houses cracked and the commu-
nications disrupted between Tenes, Cavaignac and the Trois Palmiers because of the
breaking of the footbridge. In the capital Algiers, damage consisted of the partial
collapse of a terrace of one house located at Bab El Oued; several houses cracked in
this locality and furniture moved and dishes rolled on the ground; at Mustapha, the
mayor evacuated the inhabitants of one building threatening collapse; at Mustapha
Superieur, one villa cracked and in the Casbah a section of a wall fell down and
some houses cracked; in general broken glass and overturned furniture are reported
in various places of the city.
It is reported in the press and contemporary accounts that in Kherba and
Lavarande the water sources dried up. The direction of the shock was vertical. The
earthquake was associated with long and deep cracks with one of 40 cm wide run-
ning through the village of Villebourg. It was reported that “
it is to be feared that
the ground will come down in the sea”. In fact, the mausoleum of Sidi Braham was
projected into the sea. The inhabitants and local authorities wondered whether they
could rebuild at the same place. We found no reports of sign of liquefaction but rock-
falls and landslides, as a result of the shake, were considered as the most spectacular
phenomena at that time. Rockfalls were observed at Beni Hendel and landslides cut
the road Mouzaıa-Algiers. Moreover, the landslide on which the Village of Ville-
bourg has been built, was re-activated by the earthquake. After the earthquake, a
coastal uplift of 30 cm, attested by the uplift of algae levels of the coastline and the
change of the depth of the sea level, was observed. It was also said that as a result
of the shock the sea retreated 30 m from the shore and returned flooding the coast.
A comparable phenomenon was observed during the 2003 Zemmouri earthquake.
...
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