Northridge quake: 20 years later

The 10-second earthquake that rocked Southern California early Monday will create a commuting nightmare for months to come, officials said.

The earthquake that convulsed the San Fernando Valley early Monday demonstrated as brutally as possible the danger posed by a complex web of deeply buried thrust faults underlying the Los Angeles Basin.

Beate Heuss had nearly conquered her fear when she felt it again. That’s why it was so terrifying.

L.A. Area Freeways Buckle, Buildings Topple

The earthquake sent shock waves through Southern California’s business community Monday, crippling transportation and communications, damaging factories and idling thousand of workers.

Curled up like a frightened baby, Elsie Thull lay on the floor of an elevator in the 21-story New Otani Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles and prayed.

At the place the huge temblortook its greatest toll, the woman stood vigil by an oak tree, peering into the rubble of what had been her home.

From Simple to Supreme

It was, as always, the most fickle of catastrophes, bestowing death with nature’s cold caprice: Fifteen from a stucco Northridge apartment building.

Only rubble remains at the junction of the 5 and 14 freeways following the 1994 Northridge earthquake.