It was 24 years ago this week something happened that is one of the reasons why some people don’t want to live in California.
And it still reverberates today for anyone who was living in Southern California at the time.
January 17th in 1994 was the day of the Northridge earthquake.
It struck when most people were still sleeping at 4:31 in the morning.
Its magnitude was 6.6 and its epicenter was right in the middle of the L-A area.
Freeways and huge buildings crumbled, water and gas lines ruptured, train cars derailed and thousands lost their power. 30 people died, hundreds were injured.
It took several years to repair the physical damage but probably longer for people who lost loved ones or were injured to get over the emotional trauma of what had happened.
The Northridge quake in 1994 is one of the worst quakes in California history and will always be even if we have more big ones.
And this week is a good time to make a note to yourself to make sure you are prepared for a major earthquake where you live and know what to do.
You can find out what you can do to protect yourself in a big quake by going to the county’s emergency website at Ready San Diego.org. It is worth the time, for the next time.