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- It was three minutes before the stroke of midnight on a windy March 12, 1928, when the St. Francis Dam broke. Many of the sleepy residents of the San Francisquito Canyon mistook the shaking and rumbling for an earthquake, a common enough occurrence in Southern California. Within moments, the canyon was filled with 12.6 billion gallons of water, which had been intended for the sinks, bathtubs, and residents of Los Angeles 47 miles away. The water instead roared through the canyon, valley, and the small towns that populated the region, smashing everything in its path.