Northridge earthquake is remembered

SACRAMENTO – This week marks the 25th anniversary of one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history, the magnitude 6.7 earthquake that struck Jan. 17, 1994, in an urban area just 20 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

The quake destroyed or severely damaged thousands of single-family homes, apartments and mobile homes, displacing about 22,000 people from their homes and causing residential damage estimated at more than $20 billion – the equivalent of nearly $35 billion today – about half of which was insured.

“Many of the hardest-hit areas became known as ‘ghost towns’ when residents aband...