Photo credit: Los Angeles Times. Heaviest death toll was in San Fernando Valley, epicenter of the jolting, rumbling temblor. In the early morning of Feb. 9, 1971, the magnitude-6.6 quake, also known as the Sylmar Earthquake, struck the San Fernando Valley, according to the … The 1971 San Fernando (a.k.a. The damage was severe near the San Fernando Valley. On Feb. 9, 1971, the deadly San Fernando Earthquake rattled Southern California, leaving more than 60 people dead and causing more than $500 million in property damage. Due to continuing impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lifelines 2021 Conference was rescheduled from February 2021 to February 7-11, 2022. of Water and Power) H alf a century ago, a 6.6-magnitude earthquake shook Southern California in the early morning of Feb. 9, 1971, causing 64 deaths and major damage to critical infrastructure. Also known as the Sylmar Earthquake, this earthquake occurred on the San Fernando fault zone, a zone of thrust faulting which broke the surface in the Sylmar-San Fernando Area. Today the California Geological Survey continues to work towards a more earthquake-resilient California through several programs mandated by these laws, including: The Strong Motion Instrumentation Program (SMIP) was established in 1971 to help seismologists and engineers better understand the effects of ground motion on structures. Below, a look back at the 1971 Sylmar Earthquake. The death toll of this earthquake was about 58, but the property damage was enormous. The former page's history now serves to provide attribution for that content in the latter page, and it must not be deleted so long as the latter page exists. It was at the northern edge of the San Fernando Valley in southern California. The aftermath led to major changes for building construction and the Alquist-Priolo Act. The California Geological Survey maintains a statewide system of thousands of data-collecting instruments that record how the ground, bridges, skyscrapers, dams, and other structures respond to shaking. But the threat of disaster didn't end when the shaking stopped. Erosion damage on LADWP roadway resulting from penstock damage at the San Fernando Power Plant No. On February 9th, 1971, at approximately 6:00am, the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains were struck by a 6.7 earthquake. View a gallery of archival photos at our blog: Hospitals were severely damaged; freeway interchanges collapsed; and a reservoir was in imminent danger of failure, forcing nearly 80,000 residents who lived downstream to evacuate. The 1971 San Fernando earthquake (also known as the Sylmar earthquake) happened in the early morning of February 9 in the San Gabriel Mountains. Movement along the fault reached the surface during the earthquake and extended 12.5 miles from the San Fernando-Sylmar area in the northern San Fernando Valley to Big Tujunga Wash in the Sunland area. The unanticipated thrust earthquake had a magnitude of 6.5 on the Ms scale, and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme). See more ideas about sylmar, earthquake, san fernando valley. The epicenter was located approximately 10 km northeast of LSFD at a focal depth of approximately 9 km. The total surface rupture was roughly 19 km (12 miles) long. The 1971 San Fernando earthquake (also known as the Sylmar earthquake) occurred in the early morning of February 9 in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in southern California. The shock was felt for 300 miles along the southern California coastal region and as far inland as Las Vegas, Nevada. The magnitude-6.6 temblor was the worst the region had experienced for decades. 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