The 1994 Northridge Earthquake is a memory forever etched in the minds of millions.
Thirty years have passed since the 6.7 magnitude earthquake killed more than 60 people. On its milestone anniversary, Angelenos are reflecting on its devastation.
Jillian Gordon was in the sixth grade and in Van Nuys when the earthquake hit her home at 4:30 a.m.
“We had always been told like, the big one could come and happen and I think when that happened that night in my head, as an 11-year-old, I was like, ‘This is the big one,’” Gordon said. Considering what the scope of that was, I think we were incredibly lucky. All of our damage was pretty superficial.”
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Gordon said her friends were displaced from their homes and her community’s local mall was destroyed.
Earthquake survivor Jean O’Sullivan was a California State University, Northridge, graduate student studying English at the time of the earthquake.
“The moment it happened, I woke up in the air, above my bed, screaming,” O’Sullivan said.
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CSUN Journalism Department Chair and earthquake survivor Cynthia Rawitch felt as though the earthquake “went on and on.”
“I turned to my husband and said, ‘If this is not immediately under our house, then some places have been destroyed,’” Rawitch said. “You could hear the pool sloshing and you could hear something crashing, which we later found out was the chimney going down in the backyard.”
These women also took a moment to remember the cleanup, sense of community and turning point for earthquake safety brought forth by the Northridge Earthquake.
According to O’Sullivan, the aftermath of the earthquake was characterized by “a lot of empathy going on then” and “an amazing collaboration of recovery.”
Gordon said she believed the earthquake inspired those in SoCal to adopt technology allowing residents to be notified of the possibility of an earthquake moments before it happens.
“The great thing about Southern California is we have beautiful weather and it’s lovely,” Gordon said. “We also have earthquakes, and we always have to keep that in the back of our mind and just be prepared.”
