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Northridge, California Earthquake, January 17, 1994, Set 2 |
| On Monday, January 17, 1994, at 4:31 am local time (12:31 GMT) an earthquake occurred that took 57 lives and caused $10 billion in property damage. This slide set includes damaged structures in more distant communities including Sylar, Fillmore, Granada Hills, Reseda, Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks, Chatsworth, Santa Monica, and Los Angeles. |
I5 and SR14 Freeway collapse | |
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North San Fernando Valley One of the most spectacular effects of the earthquake was the collapse of several freeway overpasses. Pictured here is the collapse at the Antelope Valley (SR14) and Golden State Freeway (I-5) interchange. Two sections of highway fell in this earthquake, and there were displacements of a number of inches between some of the span sections of the structures that remained standing. I-5 is the primary traffic artery between northern and southern California. Sections of this interchange also collapsed in the San Fernando earthquake of 1971, while it was under construction. It was later rebuilt using the same specifications. A policeman was killed when his motorcycle tumbled off the edge of the freeway. Photo Credit: J. Dewey, U.S. Geological Survey |
Damage in Sylmar Mobile Home Park | |
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Sylmar In the northern part of the San Fernanado Valley, 97 mobile homes shifted off foundations at the Sylmar Oak Ridge Mobile Home Park. Some of the gas lines were broken and the escaped gas ignited. Forty-five trailers were destroyed by fire. As many as 100 trailers in three San Fernando Valley mobile home parks were destroyed by fire; one person died. Photo Credit: J. Dewey, U.S. Geological Survey |
Damage in historical area of Fillmore | |
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Fillmore Outside the Los Angeles area, the towns of Santa Monica and fillmore were greatly affected. Fillmore had a very nice historic district with a lot of unreinforced masonry buildings. This district suffered an estimated $250 million in damage. There were a number of houses that slid off foundations. Shown here is an unreinforced masonry building with a collapsed second story wall. Photo Credit: J. Dewey, U.S. Geological Survey |
Damage to unreinforced masonry building in Fillmore | |
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Fillmore Damaged hotel and theater building. The unreinforced masonry building was constructed near the turn of the 20th Century. One government entity (concerned with safety) issued an order that all these old buildings be razed since it would take so much money to restore them. However, the Commission on Historic Preservation wanted them restored. Photo Credit: J. Dewey, U.S. Geological Survey |
Damage to Kaiser Clinic in Granada Hills | |
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Granada Hills The Kaiser Permanente Clinic at Granada Hills on Balboa Blvd. The building was of older, non-ductile, reinforced concrete-frame construction. End walls collapsed and separated from the main unit over the full height of the building. Photo Credit: M. Celebi, U.S. Geological Survey |
Second View of damage to Kaiser Clinic | |
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Granada Hills Collapse of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Building in Granada Hills. Failure occurred at the connections of the concrete frame structure. Note the crack where second story has collapsed. The building was empty at the time. Photo Credit: J. Dewey, U.S. Geological Survey |
Total collapse of end wall in Reseda | |
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Reseda Building at Sherman Way and Lindley Ave. in Reseda. An exterior wall fell off exposing offices and equipment. Photo Credit: J. Dewey, U.S. Geological Survey |
Collapse of apartment building over garage in Reseda | |
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Reseda This apartment building in Reseda collapsed over the garage. Photo Credit: J. Dewey, U.S. Geological Survey |
Second view of same building | |
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Reseda Collapsed apartment in Reseda. The building's soft story has collapsed onto cars. Photo Credit: J. Dewey, U.S. Geological Survey |
Damage to cast-in-place garage in Van Nuys | |
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Chatsworth This tilt-up building in Chatsworth was typical of many in the area that sustained extensive damage. Tilt-ups built prior to the building code changes that followed the 1971 San Fernando earthquake incurred the most damage. If these older buildings had been retrofitted, their performance would have improved considerably. Tilt-ups built after the building code changed performed well, but there were a few notable exceptions. M. Celebi, U.S. Geological Survey |
Damaged apartment in Sherman Oaks | |
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Sherman Oaks A view of a damaged apartment in Sherman Oaks. There was also some damage to large engineered structures in this area. Photo Credit: J. Dewey, U.S. Geological Survey |
Damage to tilt-up building in Chatsworth | |
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Van Nuys Cast-in-place reinforced concrete garage building off Ventura Bouldevard at the intersection of I-405. Several columns were damaged. Photo Credit: M. Celebi, U.S. Geological Survey. |
Chimney damage in Santa Monica | |
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Santa Monica and Santa Monica Mountains Chimney damage in a residential area in the Santa Monica mountains. Pockets of similar damage each extending for one or two blocks could be found in the midst of larger areas that did not experience damage. In mountainous regions such pockets of damage are often located on ridge tops suggesting topographic amplification of the seismic waves. Photo Credit: J. Dewey, U.S. Geological Survey |
Damage to car dealership in Santa Monica | |
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Santa Monica and Santa Monica Mountains The City of Santa Monica is located about 14.5 miles (24 km) from the epicenter and is on the other side of the Santa Monica Mountains, yet it experienced extensive damage in this earthquake. Shown here is the collapsed roof of a Mazda car dealership. Photo Credit: J. Dewey, U.S. Geological Survey |
Wall failure in retrofitted masonry building | |
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Santa Monica and Santa Monica Mountains Wall failure in retrofitted unreinforced masonry building on Wilshire Boulevard. In general retrofitted unreinforced masonry buildings performed better than unretrofitted ones. Photo Credit: Tiffany Meyers |
Near-collapse of second floor, hospital in Santa Monica | |
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Santa Monica and Santa Monica Mountains Damage to St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica. Note X- shaped cracks, particularly in second floor walls between windows. Shear failure occurred in the second story piers and walls. This damage significantly weakened the structure and forced the evacuation of the hospital. Photo Credit: J. Dewey, U.S. Geological Survey |
Upper floor damage, unreinforced masonry, Santa Monica | |
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Santa Monica and Santa Monica Mountains Damage to upper floors of unreinforced masonry apartments in Santa Monica. Photo Credit: J. Dewey, U.S. Geological Survey |
Unreinforced masonry apartment, Santa Monica | |
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Santa Monica and Santa Monica Mountains Unreinforced masonry apartment in Santa Monica. Photo Credit: J. Dewey, U.S. Geological Survey |
Failure of I-10 in Culver City | |
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Santa Monica and Santa Monica Mountains The failure of I-10 (Santa Monica Freeway) at Venice Boulevard in Culver City. In the westbound structure shear cracking, compressive crushing of the concrete and bar buckling occurred. The eastbound structure suffered similar damage to a lesser extent. Photo Credit: M. Celebi, U.S. Geological Survey |
Damage to historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | |
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Los Angeles The historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum built in 1923 and expanded in 1932 sustained extensive damage. This row of arches suffered serious cracking. Another crack extended around the circumference of the structure and was visible throughout much of the lower bowl. Reinforced concrete beams and columns supporting the seating of the upper concourse were also damaged. Photo Credit: M. Celebi, U.S. Geological Survey |