1994 Northridge earthquake

Earthquake in Los Angeles, California May 2025 November 2021 1994 Northridge earthquake FEMA - 1681 - Photograph by FEMA News Photo taken on 01-17-1994 in California.jpg Aerial view of the destruction 20200202193400!Shake_Map_Northridge_1994.jpg ShakeMap for the event created by theUnited States Geological Survey USA California California 34.05 -118.25 Los Angeles 100 Green pog.svg California 36.18 -115.14 Las Vegas 100 left Green pog.svg California 34.213 -118.537 Bullseye1.png 40 California 32.715 -117.1625 San Diego 100 left Green pog.svg California 37.505833 -120.848889 Turlock 100 left Green pog.svg 290 right yes 8 seconds 1994-01-17 12:30:55 189275 ci3144585 1994 01 17 4:30:55 a.m. PSThttps://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/events/1994_01_17.php Historic Earthquakes 13 April 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20161201081744/https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/events/1994_01_17.php 2016-12-01 6.7 w yNorthridge 1994 11.31 mi 34.213 N 118.537 W region:US-CA_type:event inline, title Blind thrust Greater Los Angeles AreaSouthern CaliforniaUnited States $13–50 billion IX 57 killed>8,700 injured >170 cm/s 1.82 g Northridge Blind Thrust Fault thumb|right|Magnitude of the earthquake and aftershocks The 1994 Northridge earthquake affected Greater Los Angeles, California, United States, on January 17, 1994, at 04:30:55 PST. The epicenter of the moment magnitude 6.7 (w y) blind thrust earthquake was beneath the San Fernando Valley.Northridge 1994 ci3144585 6.7 – 1 km NNW of Reseda, CA The shock lasted approximately 8 seconds and achieved a peak ground acceleration of over 1.7 g. It is the largest recorded earthquake in the area's history, slightly surpassing the w y 6.6 1971 San Fernando earthquake. Shaking was felt as far away as San Diego, California; Turlock, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Richfield, Utah; Phoenix, Arizona; and Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/ci3144585/impact M 6.7 – Northridge – Impact United States Geological Survey 2021-11-11 Sixty people died and more than 9,000 were injured.Miller Devon 2021-01-17 Remembering The Northridge Earthquake 27 Years Later http://valleypostnews.com/remembering-the-northridge-earthquake-27-years-later/17/01/2021/ 2021-01-17 The Valley Post May 25, 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210525073203/https://valleypostnews.com/remembering-the-northridge-earthquake-27-years-later/17/01/2021/ In addition, property damage was estimated to be $13–50 billion, making it among the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history.1994 Quake Still Fresh in Los Angeles Minds Los Angeles Daily News http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20140111/northridge-earthquake-1994-disaster-still-fresh-in-los-angeles-minds-after-20-years November 11, 2021 2014-01-11https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/earthquake/event-more-info/5372 Significant Earthquake Information National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information 1972 NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information 10.7289/V5TD9V7K Geology The epicenter region of the earthquake was located in the San Fernando Valley, about 30 km northwest of downtown Los Angeles. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) placed the hypocenter's geographical coordinates at 34.213 N 118.537 W and at a depth of 11.31 mi.https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/ci3144585/executive M 6.7 – 1 km NNW of Reseda, CA Earthquake Hazards Program United States Geological Survey 31 March 2021 Measuring w y 6.7, it was the largest earthquake recorded in the Los Angeles area since the 1971 San Fernando earthquake (w 6.7). However, unlike the Northridge earthquake, the San Fernando shock occurred on a north–northeast dipping thrust fault beneath the San Gabriel Mountains. Motion during the Northridge event occurred along a south–southwest dipping blind thrust fault beneath the valley. The rupture propagated upward and northwestward along the fault plane for eight seconds at speeds of ~3 km per second.USGS Response to an Urban Earthquake: Northridge '94 Studying the Setting and Consequences of the Earthquake Open-File Report 96-263 https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1996/ofr-96-0263/mainshk.htm United States Geological Survey 10 July 2024 1996 The fault planes that produced both earthquakes run parallel to each other.U.S. Geological Survey Southern California Earthquake Center The Magnitude 6.7 Northridge, California, Earthquake of 17 January 1994 Science New Series October 21, 1994 266 5184 389–397 https://www.daveboore.com/pubs_online/northridge_report_science_1994.pdf American Association for the Advancement of Science 10.1126/science.266.5184.389 17816681 1994Sci...266..389G Several other faults experienced minor rupture during the main shock and other ruptures occurred during large aftershocks, or triggered events.http://www.data.scec.org/significant/northridge1994.html Southern California Earthquake Data Center Caltech 2013-12-06 https://web.archive.org/web/20141006115519/http://www.data.scec.org/significant/northridge1994.html 2014-10-06 The previously undiscovered fault that ruptured in 1994 was subsequently named the Northridge Blind Thrust Fault or Pico Thrust Fault.1994 Northridge Earthquake https://scedc.caltech.edu/earthquake/northridge1994.html Southern California Earthquake Data Cente, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology 10 July 2024 Thrust faulting in the northern Los Angeles basin occurs in response to north–south crustal shortening.Hauksson Egill Jones Lucile M. Seismology: The Northridge Earthquake and its Aftershocks https://www.scec.org/publication/138 9 July 2024 SCEC Contribution #138 Southern California Earthquake Center 1995 The fault responsible for the earthquake represented a component of a larger system of faults within the 160 km "Big Bend" stepover of the San Andreas Fault. Crustal compression occurs along this bend of the San Andreas Fault. The Transverse Range and Los Angeles basin hosts east–west striking thrust faults and folds that accommodate over 10 mm of the compressive motion annually. This zone comprises north and south dipping faults that run subparallel to each other. Most of these faults are buried structures and only a handful reach the surface. Aftershocks Omori's law Seismic observatories recorded 3,000 aftershocks greater than magnitude 1.5 in the three weeks following the mainshock. By comparing previous aftershock sequences in California against a decay rate equation, the Northridge aftershock activity was highly energetic but decayed marginally more quickly than average. The strongest aftershock, measuring w 5.9, was recorded one minute after the mainshock. These aftershocks were distributed in three zones; the first zone illuminated a fault structure dipping 35° to 45° at a depth range of 8-19 km. Another aftershock zone at shallower depth suggested diffuse tectonic behavior of an anticline above. The third aftershock cluster was in the Santa Susana Mountains after a w 5.6 aftershock 11 hours after the mainshock. That event and its aftershocks were distributed along a 10 km strike and vertically within the crust, likely associated with faults that did not rupture during the mainshock.Dreger Douglas The Large Aftershocks of the Northridge Earthquake and their Relationship to Mainshock Slip and Fault Zone Complexity http://seismo.berkeley.edu/~dreger/paper.html 25 November 2012 Ground effects The earthquake caused uplift across 5000 km2 including the San Fernando Valley. Global Positioning System observations indicate the maximum uplift was 70 cm. Direct observations at Oat Mountain suggest the Santa Susana Mountains were thrusted up 40 cm. Across the northern valley area, uplift was as much as 20-40 cm. The neighborhood of Northridge was raised 20 cm. The USGS described the surface above the zone of greatest fault displacement as compressed into an "asymmetric dome-shaped uplift". There was also 22 cm of horizontal deformation which was the largest of its kind measured after the mainshock. The USGS recorded over 11,000 landslides within 10000 km2; most were recorded throughout a 1000 km2 area that comprised the Santa Susana Mountains and ridges north of the Santa Clara River Valley. On average, these documented landslides were under 1000 m3, although a significant number of them were larger than 100000 m3 e6ft3 unit. Rotational block slides were thought to be in the tens or hundreds, including a handful measuring over 100,000 m3. The largest block slide measured 8 e6m3 e6ft3 unit. A majority of them occurred in the weak Tertiary to Pleistocene sediments and were previous landslides that became reactivated.Harp Edwin L. Jibson Randall W. Landslides triggered by the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 1996 86 1B S319–S332 10.1785/BSSA08601BS319 1996BuSSA..86S.319H Strong ground motion Spectral acceleration Main shock Mercalli intensitiesDewey James W. Reagor B. G. Dengler L.A. Moley Kathy Intensity distribution and isoseismal maps for the Northridge, California, earthquake of January 17, 1994 Open-File Report USGS Numbered Series 1995 95-92 47 10.3133/ofr9592 United States Geological Survey 1995usgs.rept...47D MMI Locations 9 Granada Hills, Los Angeles (I-10)Northridge, Santa Monica, Sherman Oaks 8 San Fernando, Hollywood, ResedaChatsworth, Universal City, Van Nuys 7 Agoura Hills, Beverly Hills, Burbank, Century CityGlendale, Downtown, Culver City 6 Anaheim, Arcadia, Compton, Oxnard, Palmdale 5 Bullhead City, Chino, Inglewood, Long Beach, Westmorland 4 Barstow, Calexico, El Centro, San Diego 3 Parker, Las Vegas, Fresno, Santa Maria A seismometer at the Cedar Hill Nursery in Tarzana observed the greatest horizontal peak ground acceleration (pga) at 1.82 g, 7 km south of the epicenter. The recording was one of the largest observed during an earthquake at the time, yet buildings in the immediate vicinity only sustained broken windows and cracked walls and driveways. It garnered international scientific interest among those who visited the ranch in the aftermath, who installed additional instruments to record the aftershocks. The USGS Strong Motion Instrumentation Program ruled out technical malfunction and ground amplification effects, stating that the abnormally high pga recorded by a rock-bolted seismometer was authentic. The same site also recorded an unusually high pga (0.65 g) during a 1987 earthquake, though no abnormal readings were found during earthquakes in 1991 and 1992. USGS seismologist Rufus Catchings suggested the intense shaking was localised and most of the city was unharmed.Colvin Richard L. Tarzana Jolt : Shaking Under Nursery Is Among Strongest Ever https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-02-18-me-24336-story.html 10 July 2024 Los Angeles Times 18 February 1994 A possible contributing factor for the effect is the local soil condition and topography. The maximum vertical pga recorded at the same station was 1.18 g. Several sites in the valley also recorded pga exceeding 1.0 g.Significant Earthquakes of the World 1994 https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/significant/sig_1994.php United States Geological Survey 10 July 2024 https://web.archive.org/web/20091222153119/https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/significant/sig_1994.php 22 December 2009 There were over 200 recordings of pga exceeding 0.01 g, and the horizontal component pga was larger than average for a reverse-mechanism event. A possible explanation for the high pga is due to the large seismic moment release within a small fault rupture. A peak ground velocity (pgv) of 148 cm per second was measured at a station in Granada Hills.https://www.structuremag.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/261906-C-Northridge25-Luco-1.pdf Seismic design and hazard maps: Before and after Structure 2019 Luco Nicolas 28–30 National Council of Structural Engineers Associations At the Sylmar county hospital, 15 km north–northeast of the epicenter, the pgv in the horizontal component was 130 cm per second. South of the hospital, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Rinaldi Receiving Station recorded a pgv exceeding 170 cm per second. Damage and fatalities thumb|left|upright|Building damage in Santa Monica, California|250px thumb|left|Crushed column (center) along section of Interstate 10 that collapsed thumb|Collapsed section (left of the police car) and sag leading to it thumb|Kaiser Permanente building in Granada Hills thumb|Apartment building that collapsed onto its own footprint, crushing cars parked beneath it thumb|Buckled pavement thumb|Northridge Meadows apartment complex significantly damaged by the earthquake Damage occurred up to 85 mi away although it was concentrated in the west San Fernando Valley, and the cities and neighborhoods of Santa Monica, Hollywood, Simi Valley, and Santa Clarita. The Historic Egyptian Theater in Hollywood was red-tagged and closed as was the Capital Theater in Glendale due to structural damage. The exact number of fatalities is unknown, with sources estimating the number to be 60 or "over 60",http://www.fema.gov/hazard/earthquake/usquakes.shtm FEMA 2011-01-19 https://web.archive.org/web/20110315022428/http://www.fema.gov/hazard/earthquake/usquakes.shtm 2011-03-15 to 72,Reich, K. Study raises Northridge quake death toll to 72. Los Angeles Times December 20, 1995 where most estimates fall around 60.http://www.history.com/topics/northridge-earthquake-of-1994 History Channel 2011-01-19 https://web.archive.org/web/20110726060204/http://www.history.com/topics/northridge-earthquake-of-1994 2011-07-26 The "official" death toll was placed at 57; 33 people died immediately or within a few days from injuries sustained,Peek-Asa C. 1998 Fatal and hospitalized injuries resulting from the 1994 Northridge earthquake International Journal of Epidemiology 27 3 459–465 10.1093/ije/27.3.459 9698136 etal and many died from indirect causes, such as stress-induced cardiac events.Kloner R. A. 1997 Population-Based Analysis of the Effect of the Northridge Earthquake on Cardiac Death in Los Angeles County, California Journal of the American College of Cardiology 30 5 1174–1180 10.1016/S0735-1097(97)00281-7 9350911 etalLeor J. 1996 Sudden cardiac death triggered by an earthquake The New England Journal of Medicine 334 4 413–419 10.1056/NEJM199602153340701 8552142 etal free Some counts factor in related events such as a man's suicide possibly inspired by the loss of his business in the disaster. More than 8,700 were injured including 1,600 who required hospitalization.http://www.huduser.org/publications/destech/bigone/summary.html Executive Summary 2007-06-08 https://archive.today/20130415021945/http://www.huduser.org/publications/destech/bigone/summary.html 2013-04-15 Actress Iris Adrian died in September 1994 from complications of a broken hip she suffered in the earthquake.https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-iris-adrian-1440804.html https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-iris-adrian-1440804.html May 1, 2022 subscription live Obituary: Iris Adrian The Independent October 23, 2011 Sixteen people were killed as a result of the collapse of the Northridge Meadows apartment complex.https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/northridge-meadows-earthquake-apartment-complex-collapse-rescue-california/635/ 25 Years Later: The Desperate Search for Survivors at Northridge Meadows Apartments NBC News Los Angeles January 18, 2019 January 15, 2019 with video The Northridge Fashion Center and California State University, Northridge also sustained very heavy damage – most notably the collapse of parking structures. The earthquake also gained worldwide attention because of damage to the vast freeway network, which serves millions of commuters every day. The most notable was to the Santa Monica Freeway, Interstate 10, known as the busiest freeway in the United States, congesting nearby surface roads for three months while the freeway was repaired. Farther north, the Newhall Pass interchange of Interstate 5 (the Golden State Freeway) and State Route 14 (the Antelope Valley Freeway) collapsed as it had 23 years earlier in the 1971 San Fernando earthquake, even though it had been rebuilt with minor improvements to the structural components.http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/summer94/p94su26.htm Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology Federal Highway Administration 2006-03-25 https://web.archive.org/web/20060403190003/http://tfhrc.gov/pubrds/summer94/p94su26.htm 2006-04-03 LAPD motorcycle officer Clarence Wayne Dean died because of the collapse of the Newhall Pass interchange, falling 40 feet from the damaged connector from southbound 14 to southbound I-5. He likely did not realize until too late in the early morning darkness that the elevated roadway had collapsed. The rebuilt interchange was renamed in his honor a year later.https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-07-08-me-13206-story.html Interchange Named for Officer Who Died in Quake Los Angeles Times July 8, 1994 Additional damage occurred about 50 mi southeast in the city of Anaheim, located in Orange County, as the scoreboard at Anaheim Stadium collapsed onto several hundred seats.Terry Spencer January 18, 1994 https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-18-me-13025-story.html Earthquake: Disaster Before Dawn: Scoreboard Crashes Onto Seats in Anaheim Stadium: Collapse: The 17.5-ton Sony 'Jumbotron' also destroyed a section of roof as it broke loose and fell to the left-field upper deck Los Angeles Times Most casualties and damage occurred in multi-story wood-frame buildings (such as the three-story Northridge Meadows apartment building). In particular, buildings with an unstable first floor (such as those with parking areas on the bottom) performed poorly.Jon Schleuss Rong-Gong II Lin https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-11-22/los-angeles-soft-story-earthquake-building Dangerous L.A. apartment buildings most at risk in an earthquake are quickly being fixed Los Angeles Times November 22, 2019 Numerous fires were also caused by broken gas lines from houses shifting off their foundations or unsecured water heaters tumbling.http://www.earthquakecountry.info/daretoprepare/stuff/waterheater.html Secure Your Stuff: Water Heater 2007-06-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20070503132440/http://www.earthquakecountry.info/daretoprepare/stuff/waterheater.html 2007-05-03 Slope side homes supported on one side by a concrete foundation and stilts on the other were also prone to collapse such as in Sherman Oaks where nine stilt homes crashed down a slope, killing four.NAHB Research Center Assessment of Damage to Residential Building Caused by the Northridge Earthquake July 30, 1994 https://www.huduser.gov/PORTAL//Publications/PDF/earthqk.pdf U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Policy Development and ResearchAurelius Earl The January 17, 1994 Northridge, CA Earthquake: An EQE Summary Report 1994 Residential Buildings https://www.lafire.com/famous_fires/1994-0117_NorthridgeEarthquake/quake/00_EQE_contents.htm EQE International In the San Fernando Valley, several underground gas and water lines were severed, resulting in some streets experiencing simultaneous fires and floods. Damage to the system resulted in water pressure dropping to zero in some areas; this predictably affected success in fighting subsequent fires. Five days later, it was estimated that between 40,000 and 60,000 customers were still without public water service.Fire Following Earthquake 2005 ASCE, NFPA Reston, VA 978-0-7844-0739-4 http://www.asce.org/Product.aspx?id=2147485909&productid=5362 Scawthorn Eidinger Schiff 2012-07-26 https://web.archive.org/web/20130928111244/http://www.asce.org/Product.aspx?id=2147485909&productid=5362 2013-09-28 Valley fever outbreak An unusual effect of the Northridge earthquake was an outbreak of coccidioidomycosis (Valley fever) in Ventura County. This respiratory disease is caused by inhaling airborne spores of the fungus. The 203 cases reported, of which three resulted in fatalities, constituted roughly ten times the normal rate in the initial eight weeks. This was the first report of such an outbreak following an earthquake, and it is believed that the spores were carried in large clouds of dust created by seismically triggered landslides.Schneider, E., Hajjeh, R. A., Der Spiegel, R. A., Jibson, R. W., Harp, E. L., Marshall, G. A., ... Werner, S. B. (1997). A coccidioidomycosis outbreak following the Northridge, Calif, earthquake. Jama, 277(11), 904-908. Most of the cases occurred immediately downwind of the landslides.https://landslides.usgs.gov/recent/archives/1997northridge.php Coccidioidomycosis Outbreak United States Geological Survey Landslide Hazards Program https://web.archive.org/web/20140202114422/http://landslides.usgs.gov/recent/archives/1997northridge.php 2014-02-02 Facilities and infrastructure affected Hospitals Eleven hospitals suffered structural damage and were damaged or rendered unusable. Not only were they unable to serve their local neighborhoods, but they also had to transfer out their inpatient populations, which further increased the burden on nearby hospitals that were still operational.Earthquake: The Long Road Back: Hospitals Strained to the Limit by Injured: Medical care: Doctors treat quake victims in parking lots. Details of some disaster-related deaths are released https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-19-me-13343-story.html January 19, 1994 Jack Cheevers Alan Abrahamson Los Angeles Times As a result, the state legislature enacted Senate Bill 1953 to amend the Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act to require all hospitals in California to ensure that their acute care units and emergency rooms would be in earthquake-resistant buildings by January 1, 2005. Most were unable to meet this deadline and belatedly came into compliance during the 2010s. Television, movie, and music productions The production of movies and television shows was disrupted. At the time of the quake, before dawn on Monday morning, the Warner Bros. film Murder in the First (with Christian Slater, Kevin Bacon, and Gary Oldman) was being filmed only 4 mi in from the epicenter. Production came to a halt. The main courtroom set was in shambles. The building containing the set was later "red tagged" as unsafe due to the damage it sustained.July 2022 The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Profit and Loss" was being filmed at the time, and actors Armin Shimerman and Edward Wiley left the Paramount Pictures lot in full Ferengi and Cardassian makeup, respectively.Erdmann Terry J. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion Block Paula M. 2010 Simon and Schuster 978-0-671-50106-8 The season five episode of Seinfeld entitled "The Pie" was due to begin shooting on January 17 before stage sets were damaged. Also, ABC's General Hospital set at ABC Television Center suffered partial structural collapse and water damage. An earthquake scene was written in the screenplay of Wes Craven's New Nightmare and the earthquake occurred in the middle of its production timeline. Subsequently, the production company, New Line Cinema, incorporated real-life footage of the earthquake aftermath into the final cut.https://www.buzzfeed.com/louispeitzman/how-new-nightmare-changed-the-horror-game How 'New Nightmare' Changed the Horror Game Peitzman Louis October 15, 2014 BuzzFeed October 24, 2017Van Horn Shawn The Wes Craven Horror Movie That Survived an Earthquake https://collider.com/wes-craven-new-nightmare-earthquake/ 10 July 2024 Collider 24 February 2024 Some archives of film and entertainment programming were also affected. For example, the original 35 mm master films for the 1960s sitcom My Living Doll were destroyed.Susan King, "The 'perfect' '60s woman", Los Angeles Times, April 4, 2012. Retrieved April 14, 2012 In January 1994 Michael Jackson planned to record his new album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I but due to the earthquake, which terrified Jackson, they were moved to New York at The Hit Factory. Transportation thumb|Complete failure of the Golden State Freeway at Gavin Canyon Portions of a number of major roads and freeways, including Interstate 10 over La Cienega Boulevard, and the interchanges of Interstate 5 with California State Route 14, 118, and Interstate 210, were closed because of structural failure or collapse.Weinraub Bernard Bernard Weinraub January 18, 1994 The Freeways; Collapsed Freeways Cripple City Where People Live Behind Wheel https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/18/us/earthquake-freeways-collapsed-freeways-cripple-city-where-people-live-behind.html March 23, 2018 The New York TimesTaylor Alan 2014-01-17 The Northridge Earthquake: 20 Years Ago Today – Info and images of collapsed freeways https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/01/the-northridge-earthquake-20-years-ago-today/100664/ 2019-06-25 The Atlantic James E. Roberts was chief bridge engineer with Caltrans and was placed in charge of the seismic retrofit program for Caltrans until his death in 2006. Rail service was briefly interrupted, with full Amtrak and expanded Metrolink service resuming in stages in the days after the quake. Interruptions to road transport caused Metrolink to experiment with service to Camarillo in February and Oxnard in April,Mitchell J. E. January 25, 1994 Camarillo Gets a Little Good News: MetroLink Is Coming B6 Los Angeles Times https://latimes.newspapers.com/clip/18580019/metrolink_to_camarillo/ Newspapers.com March 23, 2018 Catania Sara April 4, 1994 Last of Post-Quake Metrolink Stations Opening in Oxnard B5 https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-04-04-me-42008-story.html Los Angeles Times March 23, 2018 which continues today as the Ventura County Line, and extended the Antelope Valley Line almost ten years ahead of schedule. Six new stations opened in six weeks.Gbenekama Delana G. Metrolink 20th Anniversary Report October 2012 HWDS and Associates, Inc. 9, 48 https://www.metrolinktrains.com/globalassets/about/20thanniversery.pdf May 21, 2018 Metrolink leased equipment from Amtrak, San Francisco's Caltrain, and Toronto, Canada's GO Transit to handle the sudden onslaught of passengers. Amtrak ceased service in the Pasadena Subdivision following structural damage to a rail bridge in Arcadia and redirected all rail traffic through Riverside and Fullerton.Hymon Steve March 5, 2016 Photos: Gold Line Foothill Extension's opening day thesource.metro.net http://thesource.metro.net/2016/03/05/its-opening-day-for-the-gold-line-foothill-extension/ 2016-03-09 All MTA bus lines operated service with detours and delays on the day of the quake. Los Angeles International Airport and other airports in the area were also shut down as a two-hour precaution, including Burbank–Glendale–Pasadena Airport (now Hollywood Burbank Airport) and Van Nuys Airport, which is near the epicenter, where the control tower suffered from radar failure and panel collapse. The airport was reopened in stages after the quake. California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN), was the closest university to the epicenter. Many campus buildings were heavily damaged and a parking structure collapsed. Many classes were moved to temporary structures.https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-02-15-mn-23235-story.html Quake-Ravaged CSUN Reopens Amid Confusion Chandler John 1994-02-15 Los Angeles Times 2017-12-07 Johnson John-Us 0458-3035 Much of the campus infrastructure was damaged and there were multiple fires and explosions throughout the campus.Science Complex Explodes Heistand Jesse 1994 Daily Sundial The earthquake damaged several buildings and destroyed all communications, including telephone lines, and caused computer systems to shut down. Two CSUN students died at the Northridge Meadows Complex along with 14 other residents.https://sundial.csun.edu/2014/01/former-and-current-csun-administrators-remember-the-1994-northridge-earthquake-aftermath/ 20 Years after Northridge Earthquake, CSUN Is Not Just Back, Better Saringo-Rodriguez John Jan 17, 2014 sundial.csun.edu Campus damage All 58 buildings on campus sustained significant damage, resulting in a $406 million recovery effort.Education: Three-story Monterey Hall and Five-story Administration Structure Are among Last Campus Construction Projects Related to the 1994 Earthquake Moore Solomon 1999 Los Angeles Times The Oviatt Library experienced both interior and exterior damage, but the overall frame of the central part of the building remained stable, allowing student use to continue.Temporary library may ease traveling headaches over hill Collins Michael March 1, 1994 Daily Sundial In the Science Complex, Building #1 and #2 suffered fire damage while the bridges connecting buildings #3 and #4 were closed and named unstable.Science Complex Explodes Heistand Jesse January 24, 1994 Daily Sundial The University Tower apartments, Fine Arts Building and the South Library were damaged beyond repair and demolished. Photographs of the recently constructed Parking Structure C which collapsed became synonymous with the earthquake's effects on the university. Classes and enrollment The damage delayed the start of the 1994 Spring semester by two weeks. The campus mobilised 335 makeshift structures for its usage.Gallegos Emma G. Things You Might Not Have Known About The Northridge Earthquake https://laist.com/news/northridge-earthquake 10 July 2024 LAist 17 January 2014 Some 25 classes were held at Pierce College, LA City College and UCLA, while others were outdoors or in trailer buildings.Torres Maria L. Northridge Quake "Thrashed" CSUN, But the Campus Reopened and Thrived https://sanfernandosun.com/2024/01/10/northridge-quake-thrashed-csun-but-the-campus-reopened-and-thrived/ 10 July 2024 San Fernando Valley Sun 10 January 2024 The campus was unable to use any of its classrooms because of the damage the buildings sustained. CSUN President Dr. Blenda Wilson assured the rental of temporary structures to be placed in available spaces throughout the campus. An estimated $350 million (equivalent to $US 350 1994 -1 c million today) was used to supply the number of trailers and domes which housed classes and administration offices. Enrollment dropped by approximately 1,000 students, leaving some homeless as dormitories were closed due to damage that rendered them unsafe and which required repair.Slight Drop in CSUN Enrollment Attributed to Quake Lebrun Chris February 24, 1994 Daily Sundial thumb|"An earthquake is the shifting of land, a force of nature that affects the natural, built and economic landscape." – Lauretta Wasserstein Sculpture Garden External resources The seismic event led to millions of dollars' worth of damage resulting in a sharp drop in student enrollment. CSUN received financial assistance for its efforts in reestablishing the damaged buildings with monetary gifts from the McCarthy Foundation, the Common Wealth Fund, and the Union Bank Foundation. In addition, the campus received a $23,000 check (equivalent to $US 23000 1994 -3 c today) from the Los Angeles Times Valley Edition for the journalism department.CSUN Grateful for Grants and Donations Kastle March 1, 1994 Daily Sundial CSUN also received assistance from government agencies FEMA and OES to support the recovery effort and serve the needs of the local community.FEMA Opens CSUN Office Symes Michael March 1, 1994 Daily Sundial UCLA's Westwood campus opened their doors and allowed CSUN students to use their libraries while providing shuttle buses to and from the university.Chandler John On the Road to Research : CSUN: Grateful students are shuttled to UCLA libraries. But there are problems. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-03-17-me-35343-story.html 10 July 2024 Los Angeles Times 17 March 1994 Entertainment and sports Universal Studios Hollywood shut down the Earthquake attraction, based on the 1974 motion picture blockbuster, Earthquake. It was closed for the second time since the Loma Prieta earthquake.June 2025 Angel Stadium of Anaheim (then known as Anaheim Stadium) suffered some damage when the scoreboard fell into the seats, forcing a Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group off-road race at the ballpark to be postponed from that upcoming weekend to February 12.Shepard Eric https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-19-sp-13202-story.html Trojan Game Moved: Earthquake: USC will play Arizona State at Lyon Center because of possible damage. Los Angeles Times January 19, 1994 March 15, 2022 Other buildings July 2022 Numerous Los Angeles museums, including the Art Deco Building in Hollywood, were closed, as were numerous city shopping malls. Gazzarri's nightclub suffered irreparable damage and had to be torn down. The city of Santa Monica suffered significant damage. Many multifamily apartment buildings in Santa Monica were yellow-tagged and red-tagged. An especially hard hit area was between Santa Monica Canyon and Saint John's Hospital, a linear corridor that suffered a significant amount of property damage. The City of Santa Monica provided assistance to landlords dealing with repairs so tenants could return home as soon as possible. In Valencia, the California Institute of the Arts experienced heavy damage, with classes relocated to a nearby Lockheed test facility for the remainder of 1994. The Los Angeles Unified School District closed local schools throughout the area, which reopened one week later. UCLA and other local universities were also shut down. The University of Southern California suffered some structural damage to several older campus buildings, but classes were conducted as scheduled. Pierce College suffered $2 million in damages, the most affected of the nine Los Angeles community colleges.Valley Perspective : Pierce College Deserves Community's Support : School Needs Neighbors' Sympathy, Earthquake Relief https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-03-27-me-39004-story.html 10 July 2024 Los Angeles Times 27 March 1994 Aftermath Lifestyle disruptions in the weeks following In the weeks following the quake, many San Fernando Valley residents had either lost their homes entirely or experienced structural damage too severe to continue living in them without making repairs. Although the vast majority of homes in the area, with the exception of a few particular neighborhoods, were relatively unaffected; many feared an aftershock to rival or exceed the severity of the first one. While a notable aftershock never came, many residents opted to stay in shelters or live with friends and family outside the area for a short time following.https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/01/the-northridge-earthquake-20-years-ago-today/100664/ The Northridge Earthquake: 20 Years Ago Today The Atlantic 15 May 2019 While many businesses remained closed in the days following the quake, some infrastructure was not able to be rebuilt for months, even years later. The daily commute for many drivers in the weeks following was significantly lengthened, notably for those traveling between Santa Clarita and Los Angeles, and commuters on I-10 traveling to and from the Westside. Additionally, many businesses were forced to relocate or use temporary facilities in order to accommodate structural damage to their original locations or the difficulty accessing them. Some people even made temporary relocations closer to their jobs while their homes or neighborhoods were being rebuilt. State legislative response The Northridge earthquake led to a number of legislative changes. Due to the large amount lost by insurance companies, most insurance companies either stopped offering or severely restricted earthquake insurance in California. In response, the California Legislature created the California Earthquake Authority (CEA), which is a publicly managed but privately funded organization that offers minimal coverage.http://www.earthquakeauthority.com/ CA Earthquake Authority 13 April 2016 A substantial effort was also made to reinforce freeway bridges against seismic shaking, and a law requiring water heaters to be properly strapped was passed in 1995. Engineering analysis The analysis of the effect of Northridge earthquake on behavior of structures has been investigated by many researchers. For example, the behavior of underground walls has been evaluated for the Northridge earthquake using numerical methods. The comparison of the seismic behavior of underground braced walls with ACI 318 design method reveals that bending moment and shear force of the walls under Northridge earthquake loads were observed to reach 2.8 and 2.7 times as large as the respective allowable limits. Therefore, caution should be taken in seismic design of diaphragm walls using ACI 318 code requirements.Bahrami M. Khodakarami M.I. Haddad A. Seismic behavior and design of strutted diaphragm walls in sand Computers and Geotechnics April 2019 108 75–87 10.1016/j.compgeo.2018.12.019 2019CGeot.108...75B 128226913 In popular culture The Northridge Earthquake was the subject of the 1995 film Epicenter U., a first-hand account of healing from the natural disaster, directed by Alexis Krasilovsky.https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-05-me-46791-story.html 'Epicenter U.' Captures Earthquake Aftermath: Education: CSUN film students' work documents frustration, anxiety and hope that followed the devastating temblor Los Angeles Times October 5, 1994Slater, Eric. "Student Cinema Verite Examines Earthquake," Los Angeles Times, Metropolitan Digest, October 11, 1994, p. B2. The Earthquake Haggadah (1995) was a video excerpt from Epicenter U. narrated by Wanda Coleman. Distributed in 3/4" and VHS by the Poetry Film Workshop circa 1998. Re-released as part of the DVD Some Women Writers Kill Themselves in 2008. The Northridge earthquake was used as a plot device in the 2004 film A Cinderella Story. The film is a modern retelling of the Cinderella classic starring Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray. In it, Duff's character, Sam Montgomery, lives in the San Fernando Valley with her father, stepmother, and two stepsisters. Her father, Hal, perishes in the quake trying to save her stepmother, setting the story in motion.Crust Kevin Midnight can't come too soon https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-16-et-cinderella16-story.html 1 March 2022 Los Angeles Times 16 July 2004 A song about the earthquake, set to the tune of "Happy Farmer", was featured in the Animaniacs episode "A Quake, A Quake!".Elliot Austin Yakko, Wakko, and Dot recount the Northridge quake https://blogs.agu.org/tremblingearth/2013/01/21/yakko-wakko-and-dot-recount-the-northridge-quake/ American Geophysical Union 1 March 2022 21 January 2013 The title of the song play I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky by John Adams and June Jordan was a quote from an earthquake survivor.Maddocks Fiona I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky; Icarus at the Edge of Time; Don Giovanni https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/jul/11/ceiling-sky-icarus-edge-don-giovanni-review 10 July 2024 The Guardian 10 July 2010 The story's premise also takes places after an earthquake.Hamlin Jesse What's Shakin' with Adams And Sellars? / Composer and director team anew—this time with poet June Jordan—an earthquake-inspired love story / 'I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky' https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/What-s-Shakin-With-Adams-And-Sellars-Composer-3033911.php 10 July 2024 San Francisco Chronicle 7 May 1995 The single "California" from the 1996 Belinda Carlisle album A Woman and a Man features a verse specifically referencing the Northridge Earthquake: "Four in the morning we were in our beds/The swaying palm trees above our heads/Woke up to a primal rumbling sound/When the Northridge quake ripped open the ground/California, California". Grant Lee Buffalo song "Mockingbirds" is inspired by the Northridge earthquake, as the singer Grant Lee Phillips and wife lost their house in the event. See also Los Angeles Earth sciences California Bibliography of Los Angeles Outline of the history of Los Angeles Bibliography of California history 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake 1992 Landers earthquake 1999 Hector Mine earthquake 2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes List of earthquakes in 1994 List of earthquakes in California List of earthquakes in the United States References http://www.coe.neu.edu/Depts/CIV/faculty/myegian/library/Thenorthridge%20Earthquake%20of%201994%20Ground%20Motions%20and%20Geotechnical%20Aspects.pdf The Northridge Earthquake of 1994: Ground Motions and Geotechnical Aspects 2014-03-19 Yegian M.K. Ghahraman Gazetas G. Dakoulas P. Makris N. April 1995 1384 Third International Conference on Recent Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics Northeastern University College of Engineering https://web.archive.org/web/20130506100941/http://www.coe.neu.edu/Depts/CIV/faculty/myegian/library/Thenorthridge%20Earthquake%20of%201994%20Ground%20Motions%20and%20Geotechnical%20Aspects.pdf 2013-05-06 External links 1994 Northridge earthquake Southern California Earthquake Data Center USGS Pasadena (https://web.archive.org/web/20030606195548/http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/office/hudnut/hudnut/nr_eq.html June 6, 2003 ) USC Earthquake Engineering-Strong Motion Group SAC Steel Project (Study of welded steel failures) Helicopter Footage Filmed After The Quake City of Los Angeles Re-survey of the San Fernando Valley Film "Epicenter U." Film "Earthquake Haggadah, The" 189275 1994 Category:1994 in California Category:Disasters in Los Angeles Category:Geology of Los Angeles County, California Category:History of Los Angeles Category:History of the San Fernando Valley Category:Northridge, Los Angeles Category:Santa Susana Mountains Category:1994 earthquakes Category:April 1994 in the United States Category:1994 natural disasters in the United States Category:January 1994 in the United States Category:Buried rupture earthquakes