| Date | June 28, 1992 |
|---|---|
| Magnitude | 7.3 Mw |
| Depth | 0.68 miles (1.09 km) |
| Countries or regions | United States (Southern California) |
| Casualties | 3 killed 400+ injured[1] |
The 1992 Landers earthquake was a magnitude 7.3 earthquake that occurred on June 28, 1992 with an epicenter near the town of Landers, California.[2] The quake was described at the time as the largest earthquake to have occurred in the contiguous United States in 40 years.[3]
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At 04:57 local time (11:57 UTC) on June 28, 1992, a large quake awoke much of Southern California. Though it turned out it was not the so-called "Big One," it was nonetheless a very powerful earthquake. The shaking lasted for two to three minutes. Although this earthquake was much more powerful than the 1994 Northridge earthquake, its location out in the Mojave Desert meant that damage and loss of life were significantly less than what they could have been.
The earthquake was a right-lateral strike-slip event, and involved the rupture of 5 different faults over a length of 85 kilometers (53 mi).[2] The names of those that were involved are the Johnson Valley, Landers, Homestead Valley, Emerson, and Camp Rock faults.
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 the Northridge event a year and half later, no freeway bridges were knocked down because of the epicenter's remote location. Power was knocked out to thousands of residents, but generally restored within two to three hours. There was some damage to homes from water displaced from swimming pools.
Loss of life in this earthquake was minimal. Two people died as the result of heart attacks. A three-year-old boy from Massachusetts, visiting Yucca Valley with his parents, died when bricks from a chimney collapsed into the living room where he was sleeping,[4] and more than 400 people sustained injuries as a result of the earthquake.[1]
The quake was preceded by the 6.1 magnitude Joshua Tree earthquake on April 23, which was located to the south of the future Landers epicenter.[5] The 6.5 magnitude Big Bear earthquake, which hit about three hours later after the Landers mainshock, was originally considered an aftershock. However, the United States Geological Survey determined that this was a separate, but related, earthquake. These two earthquakes are considered a regional earthquake sequence, rather than a main shock and aftershock.[6]
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