CaltechAUTHORS
Published October 21, 1994 | Version public
Journal Article Metadata-only

The Magnitude 6.7 Northridge, California, Earthquake of 17 January 1994

Creators

Abstract

The most costly American earthquake since 1906 struck Los Angeles on 17 January 1994. The magnitude 6.7 Northridge earthquake resulted from more than 3 meters of reverse slip on a 1 5-kilometer-long south-dipping thrust fault that raised the Santa Susana mountains by as much as 70 centimeters. The fault appears to be truncated by the fault that broke in the 1971 San Fernando earthquake at a depth of 8 kilometers. Of these two events, the Northridge earthquake caused many times more damage, primarily because its causative fault is directly under the city. Many types of structures were damaged, but the fracture of welds in steel-frame buildings was the greatest surprise. The Northridge earthquake emphasizes the hazard posed to Los Angeles by concealed thrust faults and the potential for strong ground shaking in moderate earthquakes.

Additional Information

© 1994 American Association for the Advancement of Science. We thank W. Ellsworth and R. Page for insightful and constructive reviews. Sponsored by NSF through the Southern California Earthquake Center, the U.S. Geological Survey, and NASA.

Additional details

Identifiers

Eprint ID
35550
DOI
10.1126/science.266.5184.389
Resolver ID
CaltechAUTHORS:20121120-075947813

Related works

Describes
10.1126/science.266.5184.389 (DOI)
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2885318 (URL)

Funding

NSF
Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC)
USGS
NASA

Dates

Created
2012-11-20
Created from EPrint's datestamp field
Updated
2021-11-09
Created from EPrint's last_modified field

Caltech Custom Metadata

Caltech groups
Seismological Laboratory , Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences (GPS)