Natural Disaster Paper

Natural Disaster/Hazard Paper For my paper I will be talking about the 1994 Northridge earthquake occurred on January 17, 1994. The earthquake was centered in Reseda, a neighborhood in the north-central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. “It was a 6.7 magnitude earthquake that lasted 10 – 20 seconds. In addition, two 6.0 magnitude aftershocks occurred, the first about one minute after the initial event and the second approximately 11 hours later, the strongest of several thousand aftershocks in all.” (USGS, 2012) Earthquakes are usually caused when rock underground suddenly breaks along a fault. This sudden release of energy causes the seismic waves that make the ground shake. When two blocks of rock or two plates are rubbing against each other, they stick a little. The epicenter was determined to be between Arminta St. and Ingomar St. just west of Reseda Blvd. The earthquake occurred on a previously undiscovered fault, now named the Northridge blind thrust fault. “The death toll was 57, with more than 5,000 injured. In addition, earthquake-caused property damage was estimated to be more than $20 billion, making it one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history.” (USGS, 2013) The earthquake mostly effected 11.4 miles of the Los Angeles area. Damage occurred up to 85 miles (125 km) away, with the most damage in the west San Fernando Valley, and the cities of Santa Monica, Simi Valley and Santa Clarita. Most casualties and damage occurred in multi-story wood frame buildings. In particular, buildings with an unstable first floor performed poorly. Numerous fires were also caused by broken gas lines from houses shifting off their foundations or unsecured water heaters tumbling. In the San Fernando Valley, several underground gas and water lines were severed, resulting in some streets experiencing simultaneous fires and floods. Damage to the system resulted in water pressure dropping to zero in some areas; this predictably affected success