January 17, 1994, a 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck the Los Angeles area
leaving extensive damage to local infrastructure in its wake.
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On the 30th anniversary of what has now become known as the Northridge earthquake, Caltrans District 7 is inviting the public to check out its four-week-long exhibit, "Northridge Earthquake Response and Recovery," commemorating those who jumped in to rebuild after the disaster.
Items on display include photographs, historical documents, and newspaper clippings.
KNX News reporter Nataly Tavidian spoke with a historian about archiving for the exhibit.
Marco Ruano, now retired, was a senior-level Caltrans engineer at the time of the earthquake. He told KNX News' Nataly Tavidian, "You know, this was probably like shining star in my career."
Ruano, who worked at Caltrans for 40 years, said things moved quickly and efficiently, getting started as early as one day after the quake. "You're seeing all of these groups come together, work together to speed up the clean up efforts, the rebuilding efforts," Ruano said.
He said, "When everybody is in agreement on what needs to be done...It's almost easy."
Michael Francis, a supervising bridge engineer with Caltrans, told Tavidian that one of the department's biggest lessons from the quake was the need for bolstered training.
"We need to be able to have people to go from relaxing at home to all of a sudden they're on the job," said Francis, adding that the training is now in place.
"We have bridge engineers that are specifically trained in earthquake investigations. In fact, they do regular investigations of all our bridges every two years," he said.
Francis said for the average Angelino, the best lesson to take away from the exhibit is to be prepared for the next 'big one,' suggesting everyone have at least a simple 72-hour bag in their car.
Here's all the exhibit details:
Location:
Caltrans District 7 Headquarters
100 S. Main St., first-floor lobby
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Hours:
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday
Members of the public who would like to visit should check in at the front desk to receive a visitor's badge.
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