- Author
-
Federal Emergency Management Agency
- Title
- Search and Rescue Operations Following the Northridge Earthquake. January 17, 1994. Los Angeles, California. Technical Rescue Incident Report.
- Coporate
- U.S. Fire Administration, Washington, DC
- Report
-
Technical Rescue Incident Report
1995
24 p.
- Distribution
- AVAILABLE FROM: U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), 16825 South Seton Ave., Emmitsburg, MD 21727. Telephone: 301-447-1000. Website: http://www.usfa.fema.gov
- Contract
- EMW-94-C-4436
- Keywords
-
rescue
|
rescue operations
|
earthquakes
|
damage
|
fire fighters
|
medical services
- Identifiers
- mutual aid
- Abstract
- At 0431 hours on January 17,1994, a 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck the Los Angeles area. The epicenter was located within the Northridge area of the San Fernando Valley, approximately 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles (see Appendix A). Many experts believe that because the earthquake occurred on a holiday morning, casualties were significantly lower than they would have been if the quake had happened at any other time. Over the following days, several aftershocks occurred that continued to damage structures as well as jeopardize the safety of rescue personnel. For firefighters and other emergency responders, the Northridge Earthquake was another in a long line of disasters that have challenged their resolve in recent years. Southern California has been walloped by major wildland fires, floods, mud slides, earthquakes, and riots. This quaked marked the third time in three months and the fourth time in two years that thousands of firefighters from California and other states responded to provide mutual aid for a major disaster in Los Angeles County.