30 years after the Northridge Quake, is Los Angeles more prepared?

Wednesday, Jan. 17, marks 30 years since a magnitude 6.7 earthquake rattled Los Angeles.

The quake, caused by a sudden rupture of a previously undocumented blind thrust fault, damaged the Santa Monica Freeway, started almost 500 fires, killed 57 people, and damaged or destroyed tens of thousands of homes.

World-renowned seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones recently sat down with KTLA 5 Morning News anchor Frank Buckley to discuss the 30th anniversary on Frank Buckley Interviews.

When asked about our ability to survive another 6.7 magnitude earthquake if it were to hit Northridge today, Jones said, “There will be much fewer collapsed apartment buildings. We lost 50,000 housing units in Los Angeles in Northridge. I don’t think it’s going to happen. The thing is, it won’t be that location. It’ll be somewhere else.” 

We also asked Dr. Jones why scientists can’t predict when “the big one” will hit, even with modern warning systems and advancements.

“The problem is that we think [earthquakes] begin and end in different ways. A lot of them get started all the time, but which one grows into a ‘big one’ is not connected to how it starts … Prediction as you’re asking for, it is impossible.”

Jones has dedicated her career to educating Californians on how to be prepared for earthquakes. But, is there anything she would change when it comes to preparation?

“We are intentionally building buildings that will be a complete financial loss after an earthquake, and uninhabitable,” she said, adding that a lot of new high rises in downtown Los Angeles meet “life safety only” standards, meaning they aren’t guaranteed to stand after an earthquake.