The destruction from the earthquake cost $350,000 - a staggering number for 1868. Geological Survey (USGS), this quake was one of the most destructive in California history, causing significant property damage and 30 fatalities. The 1868 Hayward quake is one of many notorious California quakes that affected San Francisco. The actual cost of the earthquake was $200,000 in 1918, which equates to $3,606,929.58 in 2019 dollars. According to the Southern California Earthquake Data Center of the California Institute of Technology, a landslide swept a car off a roadway, but the two occupants were saved by a tree that prevented the car from rolling down the hillside. Numerous large masonry structures collapsed in the central business districts of both towns, but those areas of the cities were nearly empty, resulting in one fatality and a relatively low number of injuries. 1918 San Jacinto Earthquake on April 21, 1918Īlthough this powerful quake struck the cities of San Jacinto, California, and Hemet, California, in the afternoon, additional loss of life was no doubt averted because the shaking hit on a Sunday. The destruction cost a total of $8 million in 1925, which equals approximately $117,070,628.57 in today’s dollars. Occurring at 6:42 a.m., the quake likely would have caused an even greater loss of human life had it struck during normal business hours.

The world-famous Mission Santa Barbara was one building that suffered significant damage, and there were 13 total fatalities reported. Unlike the infamous 1906 San Francisco earthquake, which caused much of its destruction from the resulting fires, the Santa Barbara quake nearly destroyed the entire 36 blocks in the downtown business district from shaking alone. The devastating earthquake that struck the seaside community of Santa Barbara, California, in 1925 taught researchers a lot about the damage that earthquakes can cause. 1925 Santa Barbara Earthquake on June 29, 1925 In total, destruction from the quake cost $40 billion in 1994, which equals $70,066,210,700 in 2019 dollars. local time - was also one of the deadliest in California history, resulting in an estimated 60 deaths and 7,000 injuries. The earthquake - which struck at 4:31 a.m. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, approximately 80,000 to 125,000 people were temporarily or permanently displaced from their homes due to damage from the quake. While it’s not the most powerful earthquake on GOBankingRates’ list, the quake that hit Northridge, California, in 1994 inflicted a staggering amount of damage. In terms of property damage and loss of human life, it turns out that the biggest earthquakes are not necessarily the most damaging. GOBankingRates looked at the 25 most powerful quakes in California history by magnitude. Researchers have an extensive historical record of powerful California earthquakes to draw on when it comes to understanding quakes, but predicting them remains an enigma. With the recent earthquakes near Ridgecrest, California, talk of the “big one” and quake awareness are once again reaching epic proportions in the earthquake capital of the United States.

Recent earthquakes in california 2019