Deadly Northridge earthquake remembered 30 years later

Wednesday morning marks 30 years since the deadly 6.7 magnitude Northridge earthquake rocked the San Fernando Valley. 

The catastrophic quake struck just seconds before 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994.

KTLA’s Annie Rose Ramos recalls, as a child, running downstairs with her family after the quake struck.

“Part of our kitchen wall had actually caved in,” she said. Fortunately, Annie Rose says her family was fine but many others were not as fortunate.

57 people were killed and thousands more were injured.

KTLA covered the chaotic scene with reporters on the ground and in the studio.

“Debris in the street. People out on the street. Reports of a train derailing. Looting along Sunset Boulevard. There are fires,” KTLA’s Eric Spillman reported in the wake of the devastation.

People were left trapped in cars while homes and apartment buildings collapsed. Power went out for many and for a while, water was no longer deemed drinkable.

Property damage estimates from the massive earthquake range between $13 billion and $50 billion.

Many residents now wonder whether Northridge would be more prepared if the quake were to strike today.

Seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones spoke about that during a recent episode of Frank Buckley Interviews.

“There will be much fewer collapsed apartment buildings,” Dr. Jones said. “But the thing is it won’t be that location. It’s going to be somewhere else.”

A U.S. Geological Survey Shake Movie posted on X, formerly Twitter Wednesday morning indicated that shaking was felt more than 2,000 miles from the quake’s epicenter.