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Inarguably one of the most defining moments that shaped the recent history of the San Fernando Valley was a 6.7 magnitude earthquake that struck at 4.31 a.m. on January 17th 1994 with Reseda at its epicenter.

The devastation was widespread; buildings collapsed, stretches of freeways were destroyed and several fires lit up the area. The earthquake resulted in 125,00 people being left homeless, 9,000 injured and at least 57 fatalities occurred.

Reseda tutors speculate on the timeline of key events connected to the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, and how these events molded Reseda into how we know it today. With every major earthquake comes a new understanding of the way in which buildings and structures respond to them. Reseda tutors speculate that the death toll would have been higher had it not been for the implementation of building codes following a previous powerful quake in the same region that occurred in 1971. This code, the early morning timing of the quake and the fact that it occurred on a federal holiday, are all key factors which reduced significantly the amount of people out of their homes in work or in cars commuting to work.

The insurance companies feared bankruptcy due to the new state law enforced that declared that earthquake coverage had to be offered as part of the home insurance plan. As the second costliest disaster in U.S history after hurricane Katrina according to federal figures, the tally was over $42billion in damages. As a result, a majority of insurance companies severely restricted or simply completely stopped homeowners from taking out new policies. So, as a result of the Northridge earthquake the California Earthquake Authority was born. It became necessary as a means to garner an alternate way to provide basic residential earthquake coverage to residents of the community.

Reseda science tutors note that the Northridge quake occurred on a ‘blind thrust fault’, and essentially, before the quake no one new that the fault existed. To prevent similar surprise disasters from occurring, studies have been conducted to look more closely at mapping the fault lines within the San Fernando Valley area. Since then, many more faults have been discovered allowing planning for better earthquake response and stricter building codes for new structures in these at risk areas. One of the most alarming faults that was recently discovered is directly under downtown Los Angeles should an earthquake occur there, it is predicted the magnitude could be as large as 7.5. In such a densely populated area, this would be devastating.

In response to the quake NASA has worked with several agencies to create over 250 GPS stations where they can better map fault motions and predict future quakes. This also gives the ability to provide accurate and instantaneous information about locations of earthquakes and their severity. At the time of the Northridge Earthquake there were only three GPS stations actively measuring the tectonic plate shifts.