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Science 21 October 1994:
Vol. 266. no. 5184, pp. 389 - 397
DOI: 10.1126/science.266.5184.389
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Articles

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

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 15-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.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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The Potential for Earthquake Early Warning in Southern California.
R. M. Allen and H. Kanamori (2003)
Science 300, 786-789
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Implications of Hospital Evacuation after the Northridge, California, Earthquake.
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N. Engl. J. Med. 348, 1349-1355
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Puente Hills Blind-Thrust System, Los Angeles, California.
(2002)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 92, 2946-2960
Coastal Uplift of the San Joaquin Hills, Southern Los Angeles Basin, California, by a Large Earthquake since A.D. 1635.
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Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 92, 590-599
Empirical Green's Function Analysis of Recent Moderate Events in California.
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Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 91, 456-467
Paleoseismologic Evidence for a >8 Ka Age of the Most Recent Surface Rupture on the Eastern Sierra Madre Fault, Northern Los Angeles Metropolitan Region, California.
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Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 91, 232-249
Paleoseismology and Geomorphology of the Raymond Fault, Los Angeles County, California.
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Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 90, 1409-1429
Late Quaternary activity and seismic potential of the Santa Monica fault system, Los Angeles, California.
J. F. Dolan, K. Sieh, and T. K. Rockwell (2000)
Geological Society of America Bulletin 112, 1559-1581
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Oceanside and Thirtymile Bank blind thrusts: Implications for earthquake hazards in coastal southern California.
C. Rivero, J. H. Shaw, and K. Mueller (2000)
Geology 28, 891-894
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Listric thrusts in the western Transverse Ranges, California.
L. Seeber, L. Seeber, and C. C. Sorlien (2000)
Geological Society of America Bulletin 112, 1067-1079
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Map restoration of folded and faulted late Cenozoic strata across the Oak Ridge fault, onshore and offshore Ventura basin, California.
C. C. Sorlien, C. C. Sorlien, J.-P. Gratier, B. P. Luyendyk, J. S. Hornafius, and T. E. Hopps (2000)
Geological Society of America Bulletin 112, 1080-1090
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Late Quaternary Fold Deformation along the Northridge Hills Fault, Northridge, California: Deformation Coincident with Past Northridge Blind-Thrust Earthquakes and Other Nearby Structures?.
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Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 90, 629-642
High-Resolution Seismic Reflection Surveys and Modeling Across an Area of High Damage from the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, Sherman Oaks, California.
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Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 90, 643-654
Paleoseismologic Evidence for an Early to Mid-Holocene Age of the Most Recent Surface Rupture on the Hollywood Fault, Los Angeles, California.
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Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 90, 334-344
Objective treatment and synthesis of macroseismic intensity data sets using tessellation.
F. Pettenati, L. Sirovich, and F. Cavallini (1999)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 89, 1203-1213
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Nonlinear soil response in the vicinity of the Van Normal Complex following the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake.
G. Cultrera, D. M. Boore, W. B. Joyner, and C. M. Dietel (1999)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 89, 1214-1231
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Tectonic setting of the 1971 Sylmar and 1994 Northridge earthquakes in the San Fernando Valley, California.
H. Tsutsumi and R. S. Yeats (1999)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 89, 1232-1249
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Faulting apparently related to the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake and possible co-seismic origin of surface cracks in Potrero Canyon, Los Angeles County, California.
R. D. Catchings, M. R. Goldman, W. H. K. Lee, M. J. Rymer, and D. J. Ponti (1998)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 88, 1379-1391
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An intensity survey of households affected by the Northridge, California, earthquake of 17 January 1994.
L. A. Dengler and J. W. Dewey (1998)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 88, 441-462
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Source character of microseismicity in the San Francisco Bay block, California, and implications for seismic hazard.
J. A. Olson and M. L. Zoback (1998)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 88, 543-555
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A Coccidioidomycosis Outbreak Following the Northridge, Calif, Earthquake.
E. Schneider, R. A. Hajjeh, R. A. Spiegel, R. W. Jibson, E. L. Harp, G. A. Marshall, R. A. Gunn, M. M. McNeil, R. W. Pinner, R. C. Baron, et al. (1997)
JAMA 277, 904-908
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The MS = 7.3 1992 Suusamyr, Kyrgyzstan, earthquake: 1. Constraints on fault geometry and source parameters based on aftershocks and body-wave modeling.
R. J. Mellors, F. L. Vernon, G. L. Pavlis, G. A. Abers, M. W. Hamburger, S. Ghose, and B. Iliasov (1997)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 87, 11-22
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The MS = 7.3 1992 Suusamyr, Kyrgyzstan, earthquake in the tien shan: 2. Aftershock focal mechanisms and surface deformation.
S. Ghose, R. J. Mellors, A. M. Korjenkov, M. W. Hamburger, T. L. Pavlis, G. L. Pavlis, M. Omuraliev, E. Mamyrov, and A. R. Muraliev (1997)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 87, 23-38
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The anomalous seismic response of the ground at the Tarzana hill site during the Northridge 1994 southern California earthquake: A resonant, sliding block?.
J. A. Rial (1996)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 86, 1714-1723
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A simple algorithm for tracing synthetic isoseismals.
L. Sirovich (1996)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 86, 1019-1027
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Sudden Cardiac Death Triggered by an Earthquake.
J. Leor, W. K. Poole, and R. A. Kloner (1996)
N. Engl. J. Med. 334, 413-419
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Deformation rates across the Placerita (Northridge Mw = 6.7 aftershock zone) and Hopper Canyon segments of the western transverse ranges deformation belt.
G. J. Huftile and R. S. Yeats (1996)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 86, S3-S18
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Co-seismic displacements of the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake.
K. W. Hudnut, Z. Shen, M. Murray, S. McClusky, R. King, T. Herring, B. Hager, Y. Feng, P. Fang, A. Donnellan, et al. (1996)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 86, S19-S36
   Abstract »    PDF »
Northridge earthquake rupture models based on the global positioning system measurements.
Z.-K. Shen, B. X. Ge, D. D. Jackson, D. Potter, M. Cline, and L.-y. Sung (1996)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 86, S37-S48
   Abstract »    PDF »
The slip history of the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake determined from strong-motion, teleseismic, GPS, and leveling data.
D. J. Wald, T. H. Heaton, and K. W. Hudnut (1996)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 86, S49-S70
   Abstract »    PDF »
Source complexity of the 1994 Northridge earthquake and its relation to aftershock mechanisms.
H. K. Thio and H. Kanamori (1996)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 86, S84-S92
   Abstract »    PDF »
An integrated 3D velocity inversion--joint hypocentral determination relocation analysis of events in the Northridge area.
J. Pujol (1996)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 86, S138-S155
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Localized amplification of seismic waves and correlation with damage due to the Northridge earthquake: Evidence for focusing in Santa Monica.
S. Gao, H. Liu, P. M. Davis, and L. Knopoff (1996)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 86, S209-S230
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Incidents of ground failure from the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
J. P. Stewart, R. B. Seed, and J. D. Bray (1996)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 86, S300-S318
   Abstract »    PDF »
Engineering observations on ground motion at the Van Norman Complex after the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
J. P. Bardet and C. Davis (1996)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 86, S333-S349
   Abstract »    PDF »
Prospects for Larger or More Frequent Earthquakes in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Region.
J. F. Dolan, J. F. Dolan, K. Sieh, T. K. Rockwell, R. S. Yeats, J. Shaw, J. Suppe, G. J. Huftile, and E. M. Gath (1995)
Science 267, 199-205
   Abstract »    PDF »
Earthquakes in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Region: A Possible Fractal Distribution of Rupture Size.
S. E. Hough and S. E. Hough (1995)
Science 267, 211-213
   Abstract »    PDF »


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