As Californians were still asleep on what was, for most, a Monday work holiday (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day) the Northridge Earthquake erupted throughout the west San Fernando Valley at 4:31 a.m. on January 17, 1994. A magnitude 6.7 quake caused by the sudden rupture of a previously undocumented blind thrust fault woke thousands of Angelenos, driving the City of Angels into a nightmarish frenzy.
The nature of earthquakes is that they strike when least expected and during that brief ripple in time, life is at a standstill. Once the ground ceases the tumultuous process of uplifting, twisting and eroding, people are left to make sense of the damage.
By the time the sun began to rise, the impact of the Northridge Earthquake was incalculable. Portions of the Santa Monica freeway were damaged, cars were discovered among rubble from the collapse of the 5 Freeway, a total of 466 fires occurred that Monday (some from the eruption of natural gas mains and valves), and structural damage ranging from apartment buildings to historic structures like the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum were beyond apparent. The quake killed 57, injured many thousands more, and caused more than $20 billion in damage.
Through coordinated response efforts, the City of Los Angeles quickly began to establish shelters, provide clean water, assist with traffic jams, restore power, normalcy and life.
Now, 32 years later and the City continues to hold lessons learned from the Northridge Earthquake in high esteem. By maintaining a Local Hazard Mitigation Plan that outlines earthquake hazards, LA's Emergency Management Department (EMD) has identified specific projects to mitigate or lessen the effects of the impact an earthquake can make.
In addition, each City department is required to develop and maintain its own a departmental plans for such emergencies that outline and dictate the specific roles and responsibilities for a variety of hazards in an “all hazards” approach. Such plans must meet National Incident Management System (NIMS) criteria as well as standards outlined by EMD.
Southern California has many hundreds of small earthquakes each month, some of which are felt and serve as reminders of the need to prepare for the proverbial next "big one" such as Northridge. EMD encourages and works to prepare individuals,households and communities through its "Ready Your LA Neighborhood" programs (RYLAN) and to otherwise plan and practice for them -- to instill confidence that you and your family need to stay safe when the earth shakes.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency places California in the “very high risk” category for earthquakes. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is one of the lead agencies providing the public and policymakers with a clear understanding of natural hazards and provides comprehensive real-time earthquake monitoring. The many fault systems running throughout the Los Angeles area can lead to earthquakes of all types and sizes. Many of the buildings have been retrofitted to withstand severe shaking, but you could still face many hazards and dangers.
“The Northridge Earthquake was a tragic moment in our history, with too many lives lost and damage that took many years to repair,” said Mark Benthien, Associate Director of the Statewide California Earthquake Center (SCEC) at USC and Executive Director of the statewide Earthquake Country Alliance (ECA). “However, we also learned many things from the disaster: how vulnerable certain types of buildings are (many of which have now been retrofitted or will be in the next decade); how being trained to help our neighbors is essential (through CERT and other programs); and how unknown faults beneath our cities are a significant threat in addition to the “Big One” we anticipate on the San Andreas (which led to studies that identified similar faults). SCEC and the many ECA partner organizations and leaders work to communicate these and other lessons, through activities such as the "Great ShakeOut" -- as well as preparedness messaging such as the Seven Steps to Earthquake Safety.”
In commemoration of this historic natural disaster, Angelenos are encourage to use this first month of a new year to get started making a plan and to learn more about earthquakes through information linked here as well as elsewhere online.