Hey there, it's Kathy. I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to History of the 90s

early and ad-free on Amazon music included with Prime.

1994 was a year when peace seemed possible. Nelson Mandela took office in South Africa,

and Israel began withdrawing from the Gaza Strip. But then, a horrible genocide

destroyed a small African country. Meanwhile, in North America, we were captivated by a string

of sensational crimes that ranged from ridiculous to horrific. I'm Kathy Kanzora, and this is

History of the 90s, a podcast about a decade that changed the world.

In this episode, we'll take a look back at those stories and several others, as we count down the most memorable events of 1994.

Number 10. A deadly earthquake in Southern California.

Around 4.30 in the morning on January 17, 1994, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake awakened terrified Los Angeles residents with a violent convulsion that flattened freeways, sandwiched buildings, and ruptured pipelines.

Lasting between 10 and 20 seconds, it was the strongest earthquake in L.A.'s modern history,

and it left emergency crew scrambling to rescue people trapped under the rubble.

The quake was triggered by a fault that squeezed the northern San Fernando

Valley between two mountain ranges like a vice, with the epicenter located in the L.A. neighborhood

of Northridge. 60 people were killed, including 16 who were pulled from the remains of a collapsed

apartment building in Northridge.

50 miles away in Anaheim, the 17-ton jumbo-tron at Angel Stadium tumbled from its rooftop mooring into the stadium's upper deck. It crushed and damaged about 1,000 seats in the left field stands.

Luckily, no one was injured, but had that earthquake struck during a game by the Los Angeles

Angels or the Rams, it could have been a horrific scene.

Even still, as the sun came up, aerial news footage revealed a hellscape in Southern California.

As fires from broken gas mains blazed, while water from broken water

mains flooded streets. In some areas, it looked like flames were actually shooting out of the water.

...