Although generally known as the Northridge earthquake the 1994 California earthquake actually had its epicenter 5km away from Northridge, to the south-west in Reseda. However, the 1994 California earthquake had a devastating effect on the CSUN campus, causing around $400 million worth of damage. The oldest building on the campus, the South Library, had to be demolished as too was the Fine Arts building, designed by Richard Neutra. Whilst the Art Courtyard survived reasonably intact, and certainly in a repairable state, many other building were severely damaged and required extensive rebuilding and structural strengthening.

CSUN immediately after the 1994 California earthquake

Of greatest relief to all of the CSUN community was that there had been no fatalities or even serious injuries as a result of the earthquake. A significant factor in there being very light casualties from the earthquake was that the Spring semester was just about to begin that morning and, with the earthquake beginning at 04:31am, few people would have been on or around the campus site. One of the first people to visit CSUN after the earthquake had struck was the Poet Laureate, Maya Angelou, who visited the campus in February 1994 to lend her support to the CSUN community in coming to terms with the effects of the earthquake on the campus. Another welcome visitor in February 1994 was the Vice-President, Al Gore, who announced during his visit to the campus that public funds would be made available to assist in the rebuilding program.

The effects of the 1994 Northridge earthquake on CSUN

Every one of the 107 buildings at CSUN was at least damaged to some extent by the earthquake. Faced with a seemingly logistical nightmare the university authorities decided to keep the campus open and keep classes running as normally as possible. This meant installing 350 temporary facilities with 10 Mylar domes, whilst those buildings with the least damage were quickly repaired and pressed in multiple uses. The rebuilding program was finally completed seven years later in 2001. It has been calculated that some 3.7 million hours of work by administration staff alone was done in temporary buildings. CSUN now has a new library housed in the Oviatt Library; the University Hall has been rebuilt and is now known as the Student Services Center and, with a touch of irony, the Science building has been re-engineered to make it more seismically resistant.

The 1994 Northridge earthquake in general

Northridge is in the San Fernando Valley region of Greater Los Angeles, California. However, January 17th 1994 is etched into the memories of most Southern Californians as the day, at 4:31 in the morning, that the Northridge earthquake struck. Incapable of waiting for accurate reports from the USGS the press quickly named it the Northridge earthquake, whereas later investigation by the USGS showed it to have an epicenter on Reseda. Scientifically the earthquake was along a south dipping blind thrust fault with a focal depth of 19km, it was determined to be 6.7 in magnitude, making it a strong earthquake. This surprised many people as; all in all, the earthquake had caused $20 billion of damage, 57 deaths and over 5000 serious injuries. Structural damage included partial and total collapse of buildings and transport systems, as well as severe disruption to energy supplies to an area of around 4000 square kilometers. Which, all in all, is more in keeping with an earthquake that is categorized as at least being a major one! Apart from the extensive damage to CSUN, in the 1994 California some of the most memorable images of damage caused by it were those of the I-5/SH-14 San Fernando - Newhall interchange, with the overpass abruptly ending, leaving a mess of reinforced concrete dangling from it. This spectacular collapse and those of several other buildings led to improved engineering standards being drawn up for new buildings and other structures in and around Los Angeles.