Northridge Earthquake

The Northridge earthquake occurred at 4:30 a.m. local time on January 17, 1994. Northridge is located about 30 km northwest of Los Angeles. This earthquake had a 6.9 moment magnitude. The hypocentral depth was 19 km. The duration was about 10 seconds to 20 seconds. The earthquake occurred along a "blind" thrust fault, close to the San Andreas fault. Note that a blind fault is a fault which does not extend to the surface. In other words, it is buried.

The Northridge earthquake was the worst earthquake in the Los Angeles basin since the San Fernando earthquake in 1971, which had a 6.7 magnitude.