All Rights Reserved. On January 17, 1994, an earthquake rocks Los Angeles, California, killing 54 people and causing billions of dollars in damages. On January 17, 1994, at 4:31 am, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, killing more than 60, injuring more … The earthquake was caused by a blind thrust fault, a … 1994: Massive earthquake hits Los Angeles A huge earthquake has rocked Los Angeles, killing more than 20 people. The Northridge earthquake was the third major earthquake to occur in California after the earthquake of 1971 in San Fernando and the 1989 San Francisco-Oakland earthquake. The quake had a duration of approximately 10–20 seconds, and its peak ground acceleration of 1.82 g0 (17.8 m/s2)[7][8] was the highest ever instrumentally recorded in an urban area in North America. At the Northridge Meadows complex, 16 people died, all of whom lived on the first floor, when the weak stucco structure fell down on them as they slept. [42] Metrolink leased equipment from Amtrak, San Francisco's Caltrain and Toronto, Canada's GO Transit to handle the sudden onslaught of passengers. A look back at the damage, deaths and developments in seismic safety since the disaster: ___ THE QUAKE At 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994, a hidden fault lurking under the city's San … On January 17, 1994, an earthquake rocks Los Angeles, California, killing 54 people and causing billions of dollars in damages. Damage to the system resulted in water pressure dropping to zero in some areas; this predictably affected success in fighting subsequent fires. The 1994 Northridge Earthquake was a violent natural disaster that took place on Monday, January 17, 1994 at 0430 Pacific Standard Time around the Los Angeles area. Twenty-five years ago this week, a violent, pre-dawn earthquake shook Los Angeles from its sleep, and sunrise revealed widespread devastation, with dozens killed and $25 billion in damage. Warsaw was a battleground since the opening day of fighting in the European theater. [47] In the Science Complex, Building #1 and #2 suffered fire damage while the bridges connecting buildings #3 #4 were closed and named unstable. The slides were caused by a major earthquake … Numerous Los Angeles museums, including the Art Deco Building in Hollywood, were closed, as were numerous city shopping malls. For those of us who lived through it, … [15], Damage occurred up to 85 miles (137 km) away, with the most damage in the west San Fernando Valley, and the cities and neighborhoods of Santa Monica, Hollywood, Simi Valley and Santa Clarita. 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. Nixon’s National Security Advisor Henry ...read more, On January 17, 1916, a group of golf professionals and several leading amateur golfers gather at the Taplow Club in New York City, in a meeting that will result in the founding of the Professional Golfers Association (PGA). The quake produced unusually strong ground accelerations in the range of 1.0 g. Damage was also caused by fire and landslides. [48] The Fine Arts Building and the South Library experienced internal structural damage, resulting in the demolition and replacement of both buildings. Although several commercial buildings also collapsed, loss of life was minimized because of the early morning hour of the quake, and because it also occurred on a federal holiday (Martin Luther King Jr. Day). Two key factors were critical in reducing the casualties. [46] In addition, the newly completed student parking structure C collapsed, and had to be demolished. California State University, Northridge, was the closest university to the epicenter. All told, it is estimated that the earthquake was responsible for $20 billion in damages. Los Angeles' radio and television stations were knocked off the air, but resumed coverage later. The Historic Egyptian Theater in Hollywood was red-tagged and closed as was the Capital Theater in Glendale due to structural damage. In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that, in violation of the eighth Amendment ...read more, B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 jet tanker over Spain’s Mediterranean coast, dropping three 70-kiloton hydrogen bombs near the town of Palomares and one in the sea. Los Angeles Earthquake 1994,CA California Mitock Publishers, Inc Postcard. [55], Section of collapsed low-rise apartment buildings, Lifestyle disruptions in the weeks following. [45] The damage caused a shutdown of the campus and delayed the start of the 1994 Spring semester. The analysis of the effect of Northridge earthquake on behavior of structures has been investigated by many researchers. The Northridge earthquake led to a number of legislative changes. ... 8.2 La Paz, Bolivia. The peak ground velocity at the Rinaldi Receiving Station was 183 centimetres per second (4.1 mph; 6.6 km/h),[10] the fastest ever recorded. Many multifamily apartment buildings in Santa Monica were yellow-tagged and red-tagged. The campus still opened and provided students with mobile classrooms and mobile offices. The major Hollywood film studios including Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Walt Disney Studios and Universal Studios were also shut down. In particular, buildings with an unstable first floor (such as those with parking areas on the bottom) performed poorly. Study raises Northridge quake death toll to 72. The first and second episodes of the fifth season of Baywatch featured the earthquake, and how the lifeguards responded to it, professionally and personally. tells the story of the event. 3.6 magnitude earthquake. 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.[53]. 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. Parade, scheduled to take place on January 17, was not held. The airport was reopened in stages after the quake. Commander in chief of the Southern Army, Major ...read more, Winston Churchill, beginning his service as a battalion commander on the Western Front, attends a lecture on the Battle of Loos given by his friend, Colonel Tom Holland, in the Belgian town of Hazebrouck. Because of these revelations, building codes were revised. The game scheduled against the Sacramento Kings was postponed, the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers was relocated to The Forum (then the home arena of the Los Angeles Lakers), and the game against the New York Knicks was moved to the Arrowhead Pond (now Honda Center) in Anaheim. [23], Sixteen people were killed as a result of the collapse of the Northridge Meadows apartment complex. As Californians were nestled in bed during the early hours of the morning, the Northridge Earthquake erupted throughout the west San Fernando Valley at 4:31 a.m. on January 17, 1994. At 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994, a hidden fault lurking under the city’s San Fernando Valley neighborhoods unleashed a magnitude 6.7 earthquake. 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. With an epicenter 12 miles beneath the earth’s surface, the earthquake caused the collapse of several apartment buildings. More than 8,700 were injured including 1,600 who required hospitalization. For example, the original 35 mm master films for the 1960s sitcom My Living Doll were destroyed.[37]. 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. Although given the name "Northridge", where the quake was believed to have been centered and substantial damage occurred, the actual epicenter was pinpointed in the neighboring community of Reseda within several days. An estimated $350 million (equivalent to $600 million today) was used to supply the number of trailers and domes which housed classes and administration offices. 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. Several highways also suffered critical failures, but only one police officer died, when his vehicle plunged off an overpass. Gazzarri's nightclub suffered irreparable damage and had to be torn down. The City of Santa Monica provided assistance to landlords dealing with repairs so tenants could return home as soon as possible. $14.99 + $1.90 shipping . [38][39] 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. A coccidioidomycosis outbreak following the Northridge, Calif, earthquake. Schneider, E., Hajjeh, R. A., Spiegel, R. A., Jibson, R. W., Harp, E. L., Marshall, G. A., . The campus was unable to use any of its classrooms because of the damage the buildings sustained. A view from a helicopter shows several landslides in the hills southwest of Valencia, Calif., Jan. 19, 1994. As a result, the state legislature passed a law requiring all hospitals in California to ensure that their acute care units and emergency rooms would be in earthquake-resistant buildings by January 1, 2005. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! [clarification needed] Also, ABC's General Hospital, which shoots in Los Angeles, was heavily affected. Especially hard hit was the area between Santa Monica Canyon and Saint John's Hospital, a linear corridor that suffered a significant amount of property damage. At 0431 hours on January 17, 1994, a 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck the Los Angeles area. In 1994 a 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck near Los Angeles killing 57 and causing widespread infrastructure damage. [33], Eleven hospitals suffered structural damage and were damaged or rendered unusable. Production came to a halt. [29] Numerous fires were also caused by broken gas lines from houses shifting off their foundations or unsecured water heaters tumbling. © 2020 A&E Television Networks, LLC. [22] Actress Iris Adrian died in September 1994 from complications of a broken hip she suffered in the earthquake. The Los Angeles Public Library shut down most of its branches; books were knocked down during the quake. [18] The "official" death toll was placed at 57;[17] 33 people died immediately or within a few days from injuries sustained,[19] and many died from indirect causes, such as stress-induced cardiac events. President Richard Nixon warns South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu in a private letter that his refusal to sign any negotiated peace agreement would render it impossible for the United States to continue assistance to South Vietnam. Radio stations such as KFI, KFWB and KNX were on the air during the main tremor, which caused their signals to get very noisy. Jump to Navigation Significant Earthquakes - 1994. The cast and crew had initially thought that the scenes that were filmed before the real quake struck were a bit overdone, but upon viewing the footage after the earthquake, they were reportedly startled by the realism of it. . Jones claimed that Clinton, while governor of Arkansas, sexually harassed her and then ...read more, On January 17, 1961, Dwight D. Eisenhower ends his presidential term by warning the nation about the increasing power of the military-industrial complex. An earlier version of this article said the Ridgecrest earthquake was the largest since the 1994 Northridge quake. The Battle of Loos, which took place in September 1915, resulted in ...read more. In response, the California Legislature created the California Earthquake Authority (CEA), which is a publicly managed but privately funded organization that offers minimal coverage. Many campus buildings were heavily damaged and a parking structure collapsed. It was the perfect crime—almost—as the culprits weren’t caught until January 1956, just days before the statute of limitations for the theft ...read more, Soviet troops liberate the Polish capital from German occupation. $11.95 + $1.75 shipping . [50] CSUN also received assistance from government agencies FEMA and OES to support the recovery effort and serve the needs of the local community. Most casualties and damage occurred in multi-story wood frame buildings (such as the three-story Northridge Meadows apartment building). Auditions For Acting Roles in New TV Series ...read more, On January 17, 1820, Anne Brontë, the youngest of the six Brontë children, is born in Yorkshire, England. 1994 Los Angeles earthquake. KROQ-FM's Kevin and Bean morning show asked those people tuned in to stay out of their homes. The University of Southern California suffered some structural damage to several older campus buildings, but classes were conducted as scheduled. The earthquake also gained worldwide attention because of damage to the vast freeway network, which serves millions of commuters every day. [11] The death toll was 57, with more than 8,700 injured. The 1994 Northridge earthquake was a moment magnitude 6.7 (Mw),[6] blind thrust earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 4:30:55 a.m. PST in the San Fernando Valley region of the County of Los Angeles. Picture Information. The 1994 Spring semester was delayed by two weeks due to the Northridge earthquake. Five days later, it was estimated that between 40,000 and 60,000 customers were still without public water service. Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan declared a state of emergency and issued curfews in the area, while Governor Pete Wilson and President Bill Clinton visited Los Angeles to tour the area. The Northridge quake (named after the San Fernando Valley community near the epicenter) was one of the most damaging in U.S. history. 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