The Northridge Earthquake

On January 17, 1994, the people around Northridge, California, were awakened early in the morning by a large earthquake. The quake struck at 4:31 a.m. and had a magnitude of 6.7, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The fault responsible for the earthquake ran underneath the San Fernando Valley and had been unknown before the Northridge Earthquake.

The quake was felt for 2,000 square miles in Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties. There were nearly 15,000 aftershocks following the main earthquake. The earthquake killed 57 people and injured nearly 12,000 people. The damage was extensive, damaging about 100,000 houses and businesses. Parking garages collaped and some apartment buildings were reduced to rubble. The earthquake caused more than $40 billion in damage.

area was declared a federal disaster by President Clinton and hundreds of workers from FEMA were deployed to Southern California to help the communities there recover. More than 600,000 individuals applied for state and federal disaster assistance, and FEMA spent millions of federal money helping the area recover.

The Northridge Earthquake was the largest earthquake to hit a Southern Californian city since 1971. It was the 11th largest earthquake to be recorded in California since 1769.

Pictures from Northridge Earthquake