The 1992 Landers Earthquake was a magnitude 7.3 earthquake on June 28, 1992 in California's Yucca Valley, near the town of Landers, California.^[1] The quake was described at the time as the largest earthquake to have occurred in the contiguous United States in 40 years.^[2]

The Earthquake Itself

At 4:57 a.m. on June 28th, 1992, a large temblor awoke much of Southern California. Though it turned out it was not the so-called "Big One," it was still none-the-less a very powerful earthquake. Initially reported to be a 7.8 magnitude shaker, the quake was later downgraded to 7.3 magnitude. The shaking lasted for two to three minutes. This earthquake was much more powerful then the 1994 Northridge earthquake, but due to its location out in the Mojave Desert, damage and loss of life were significantly less then what they could have been.

Damage

Damage to the Yucca Lanes Bowling Center from the 1992 quake.

Damage to the area immediately surrounding the epicenter was severe. Roads were buckled, buildings and chimneys collapsed. There were also large surface fissures. To the west in the Los Angeles Basin damage was much less severe. The majority of the damage throughout the LA area involved items knocked off shelves. Unlike Northridge a year and half later no Freeway bridges were knocked down, this was due to the fact the epicenter was so far out in the desert. Power was knocked out to thousands of residents, but generally restored within two-three hours. There was some water damage to some peoples homes from water being displaced from swimming pools.

Loss of Life

Loss of life in this earthquake was minimal. Two people died as the result of heart attacks. A three-year-old boy was crushed to death in his living room when the house's chimney collapsed into the room. More than 400 people sustained injuries as a result of the earthquake.^[3]

Aftershocks

Over the years thousands of aftershocks have been recorded, most of them microquakes too small to be felt. It was thought at the immediate time that the 6.4 Magnitude Big Bear earthquake, which hit the area about three hours later, was an aftershock. However within hours the United States Geological Survey determined that this was a separate earthquake, unrelated to the first, and larger Landers event. Other than the fact that they occurred on the same day, hours apart they had nothing else in common, as they were on two separate fault systems.^[4]

References

External links

• Landers Earthquake at the Southern California Earthquake Data Center
• Big Bear Earthquake at the Southern California Earthquake Data Center