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The 1971 San Fernando earthquake (also known as the 1971 Sylmar earthquake) occurred in the early morning of February 9 in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California. The unanticipated thrust earthquake had a magnitude of 6.5 on the M s scale and 6.6 on the M w scale, and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI ( Extreme ).
The deadliest earthquake accounting for the vast majority of the 1,290 fatalities occurred in Turkey in May. 1,000 died in this event coming not long after another deadly event elsewhere in the country. In February, Los Angeles, California was jolted by one of its largest events resulting in 65 deaths.
The Van Norman Dams, also known as the San Fernando Dams, were the terminus of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, supplying about 80 percent of Los Angeles' water, [5] until they were damaged in the 1971 San Fernando earthquake and were subsequently decommissioned due to the inherent instability of the site and their location directly above heavily populated areas.
The earliest known earthquake in the U.S. state of California was documented in 1769 by the Spanish explorers and Catholic missionaries of the Portolá expedition as they traveled northward from San Diego along the Santa Ana River near the present site of Los Angeles. Ship captains and other explorers also documented earthquakes.
The park occupies the site of the San Fernando Veterans Administration Hospital built in the 1940s which was severely damaged by the 1971 Sylmar Earthquake. The United States' government transferred ownership of the property to the County of Los Angeles in 1972 and the hospital was demolished. The park was dedicated in 1979. [1]
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Most of the 33 buildings are in the Los Angeles Basin, which has been spared the strongest shaking of L.A. County’s two most destructive earthquakes since World War II — the magnitude 6.6 ...
Measuring M w 6.7, it was the largest earthquake recorded in the Los Angeles area since the 1971 San Fernando earthquake (M w 6.7). However, unlike the Northridge earthquake, the San Fernando shock occurred on a north–northeast dipping thrust fault beneath the San Gabriel Mountains.