framed buildings, including many apartment com-
plexes. Damage to streets was considerable in some
areas, especially in western parts of the San
Fernando Valley and within the cities of Simi Valley,
Sherman Oaks, and Santa Monica. Significant dam-
age to freeways occurred within twenty miles of the
epicenter, affecting sections of Interstates 5 and 10
and State Route 14. The interchange connecting In-
terstate 5 and State Route 14 located between
Newhall and San Fernando experienced a complete
collapse.
A total of 170 freeway bridges experienced dam-
age that affected traffic for months following the
quake. In addition to damage to structures, the
quake caused landslides that destroyed homes and
utility lines and blocked roads and streams. In con-
trast to other large earthquakes such as the 1964
Alaska and 1989 Loma Prieta quakes, liquefaction
and ground failure did not cause massive destruc-
tion. This was due to the relatively arid climate and
dry soil in the Northridge area.
Human Toll The death toll for the quake
included fifty-seven persons, with eleven
thousand others injured. A majority of
persons killed were in multifloor wood-
frame structures. The early morning tim-
ing of the quake contributed to the low
number of persons killed. Had the quake
occurred just hours later, the loss of life on
freeways would have been considerably
higher. Immediately following the quake,
more than nine thousand homes and busi-
nesses were without power. Responding to
the disaster, the American Red Cross es-
tablished forty-seven shelters for persons
displaced from their homes.Impact Information collected from the
Northridge earthquake represents among
the most detailed data sets on shaking in-
tensity ever recorded in the United States.
Scientific research based on data collected
during the quake led to new building
codes for the construction of steel-framed
buildings. The quake also affected pol-
icy making. Damage to local hospitals
prompted the California state legislature
to pass a law requiring emergency and
acute care facilities to be built to higher
standards. As a result of enormous recov-
ery payouts, many insurance companies discontin-
ued earthquake coverage for property owners. To
address this problem, the California Earthquake Au-
thority was created as a publicly managed but pri-
vately funded agency offering minimal earthquake
coverage.Further Reading
Bolin, Robert C., and Lois Stanford.The Northridge
Earthquake: Vulnerability and Disaster. New York:
Routledge, 1998. A look at the effects of urbaniza-
tion, population movement, and other sociode-
mographic factors on the vulnerability of South-
ern California to major disasters.
Bolt, Bruce A.Earthquakes. New York: W. H. Free-
man, 1999. Provides a well-illustrated reference
about earthquakes, with topics ranging from
ground acceleration to earthquake forecasting.
Several examples are provided from quakes, in-
cluding Northridge in 1994 and Kfbe in 1995.
Hough, Susan E.Finding Fault with California: AnThe Nineties in America Northridge earthquake 623
A collapsed connector structure at the Interstate 5 and State Route 14 inter-
change.(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)