The Sylmar earthquake struck at 6:00:55 a.m. PST on the morning of February 9, 1971. The earthquake that rocked the northern San Fernando Valley, near Sylmar measured magnitude 6.6 on the Richter magnitude scale. February 9 is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... Global earthquake epicenters, 1963–1998 An earthquake is a sudden and sometimes catastrophic movement of a part of the Earths surface. ... San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley in southern California, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles. ... Sylmar is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles, California. ... The Richter magnitude test scale (or more correctly local magnitude ML scale) assigns a single number to quantify the size of an earthquake. ...

'Sylmar Quake' is the name initially given to the event by local media outlets because the worst damage was to the Olive View Medical Center, located in Sylmar. Local veterans of 'the Sylmar Quake' commonly refer to this seismic event as the 'February Ninth' quake. Seismologists call it the San Fernando earthquake. Seismology (from the Greek seismos = earthquake and logos = word) is the scientific study of earthquakes and the movement of waves through the Earth. ...

The Southern California Earthquake Data Center reports that the epicenter was on the other side of the San Gabriel Mountains from Sylmar, as indicated on this Google Map. This Instrumental Intensity Map identifies the same location using a star shaped symbol "centered in Iron Canyon, in the Sand Canyon area of Canyon Country". These maps help explain why the seemingly distant cities of Sylmar and San Fernando received the brunt of the damage: the quake energy was focused within the sparsely populated San Gabriel Mountains, extending slightly into the northeastern end of the densely populated San Fernando Valley. San Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel Mountains are located in northern Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, USA. The mountain range forms a barrier between the Greater Los Angeles Area and the Mojave Desert. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... San Fernando is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. ... San Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel Mountains are located in northern Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, USA. The mountain range forms a barrier between the Greater Los Angeles Area and the Mojave Desert. ... San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley in southern California, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles. ...

The earthquake ruptured a segment of the San Fernando fault zone, a set of north-dipping, high-angled reverse faults along the southeastern margin of the San Gabriel Mountains. San Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel Mountains are located in northern Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, USA. The mountain range forms a barrier between the Greater Los Angeles Area and the Mojave Desert. ...

It caused more than 10 miles of discontinuous surface ruptures with average displacements of about 3 feet both horizontally and vertically. A strong aftershock sequence followed the main shock and included four quakes in the Magnitude 5 range. Aftershocks are earthquakes in the same region of the mainshock (generally within a few rupture length) but of smaller magnitude and which occur with in a pattern that follows Omoris law. ...

The quake claimed 65 lives and caused more than half a billion dollars in damage, including the destruction of two hospitals, a freeway interchange and the Lower Van Norman Dam. Damage to the dam caused concern that the dam, of the Earthen Bulwark type, might collapse, in whole or in part. A physician visiting the sick in a hospital. ... In the field of road transport, a road junction is a place where two or more roads either meet or cross. ...

Much confusion ensued as various agencies declared a need for mandatory evacuations, or voluntary evacuations of various portions of the San Fernando Valley below the dam, depending on which agency was consulted, and often the evacuees were not able to be informed of the status of an evacuation in a timely manner, often returning home just as the police arrived to notify them of a new evacuation order, or evacuating at a moment when officials decided not to evacuate. Communication was made difficult (this was before the cellular phone became ubiquitous) by disruption of telephone, water, and electrical service.

The most spectacular damage included the collapse of structures at Olive View Hospital in Sylmar (which had opened just a month prior to the 'quake) and at the Veterans Administration Hospital at San Fernando, where 49 people died. A freeway overpass connecting the Interstate 5 freeway and the Antelope Valley Freeway (California State Highway 14) also collapsed, resulting in the death of at least two people. (This interchange was rebuilt and reopened in 1973, but ironically collapsed 23 years later during the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, killing one.) San Fernando is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Antelope Valley Freeway is a freeway in Los Angeles and Kern counties in southern California. ... California 14 is a north-south highway largely in the Mojave Desert, also known as the High Desert, just east of the crest of the Sierra Nevada in its northern part. ... 1973 was a common year starting on Monday. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... The 1994 Northridge earthquake occurred on January 17, 1994 at 4:30:55 AM Pacific Standard Time in the city of Los Angeles, California. ...

Landslides were widespread and caused extensive damage throughout the San Gabriel Mountains. A landslide is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rock falls, deep failure of slopes, and shallow debris flows, see flow. ...

It is reported that Los Angeles experienced a brief spike in the birth rate, 8-10 months subsequent to the event.