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The 1857 Fort Tejon Earthquake was the largest Earthquake in Southern California's historic period. It had a magnitude of 7.9 causing large amounts of damage along the surafce rupture of the San Andreas Fault from Parkfield CA to Wrightwood CA. -
The 1872 Owens Valley Earthquake struck California's Owens Valley, near Lone Pine with a magnitude of between 7.4 and 7.9. It caused a complex surface rupture along the Owens Valley Fault which caused great destruction and killed 27 people. -
The San Francisco earthquake was one of the most significant earthquakes of all time being one of the most deadly in the U.S. It had a magnitude of 7.9 and caused the San Andreas Fault to rupture which caused lots of damage. It destroyed most of the city, igniting fires that lasted for days, killing thousands of people, and leaving thousands homeless. -
The 1933 Long Beach Earthquake had a magnitude of 6.4 and tore apart most of Long Beach causing lots of destruction specifically to many public schools in that area. It resulted in 120 deaths and property damages of over 50 million dollars. -
The 1971 San Fernando Earthquake struck Los Angeles with a magnitude of 6.6 which caused 64 deaths and over 500 million dollars in damages. The ongoing crustal deformation caused the damages like the collapse of the highway overpass. -
The 1980 Eureka Earthquake was one of the most significant and seismic earthquakes in Northern California with a magnitude of 7.2. Despite only 6 injuries, there was still lots of damage including bridge collapse, power lines down, and broken windows. -
The 1987 Whittier Narrows Earthquake struck Los Angeles County rupturing an unknown thrust fault with a magnitude of 6.1. The "sudden,violent shake" killed 8 people and caused over 350 million dollars in damage. -
The 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake had a magnitude of 6.9 and was centered near Santa Cruz then struck Northern California causing widespread damage in the Bay Area. This earthquake killed 63 people. -
The 1994 Northridge Earthquake had a magnitude of 6.7 which struck the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles causing huge amounts of destruction, infrastructure collapse, and killed 71 people. -
The 2014 South Napa Earthquake was centered on the West Napa Fault and was one of the strongest earthquakes to hit the San Francisco Bay Area since 1989. This earthquake had a magnitude of 6.0 which caused significant damage to buildings and infrastructure leaving over 200 people injured.