Fatal and hospitalized injuries resulting from the 1994 Northridge earthquake

Coritme Peek-Asa; Jess F Kraus; Linda B Bourque; Dushyanthi Vimalachandra; Jenny Yu; Jackie Abrams

doi:10.1093/ije/27.3.459

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Fatal and hospitalized injuries resulting from the 1994 Northridge earthquake

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Fatal and hospitalized injuries resulting from the 1994 Northridge earthquake

Coritme Peek-Asa, Jess F Kraus, Linda B Bourque, Dushyanthi Vimalachandra, Jenny Yu and Jackie Abrams

International journal of epidemiology, Vol.27(3), pp.459-465

06/1998

DOI: 10.1093/ije/27.3.459

PMID: 9698136

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Abstract

Background The Northridge earthquake struck Los Angeles on 17 January 1994, origthadng from a previously unknown thrust fault. The earthquake measured 6.7 on the Richter scale and caused extensive damage to buildings, utilities and roadways. This report describes injuries occurring in the Northridge earthquake which resulted in death or hospital admission. Methods Earthquake-related deaths were identified by the Los Angeles Department of the Coroner. All 78 hospitals in Los Angeles County were screened for earthquake- related admissions and were found in 16 of them. Coroner's records and medical records from the 16 hospitals were individually reviewed to identify earthquake- related injuries and to obtain information about the injury. Results A total of 171 earthquake-related injuries was identified in Los Angeles County, 33 were fatal and 138 required hospital admission. Injury rates were approximately equal by gender and increased significantly with increasing age. Most of the fatalities were due to building collapse, and most of the hospital-admitted injuries were caused by falls or being hit by objects. Motor vehicle injuries and burns were also common causes of injury. Head and chest injuries were common among fatalities, and extremity injuries were the most common among those admitted to a hospital. Conclusions Earthquakes cause injuries through many mechanisms, and a clearer understanding of these pathways can help focus prevention strategies. Research combining comprehensive surveillance with risk factor assessment can help identify behaviours and circumstances increasing the risk of injury in an earthquake.

disaster planning

epidemiology

Injury

risk factors

Details

Title: Subtitle: Fatal and hospitalized injuries resulting from the 1994 Northridge earthquake
Creators: Coritme Peek-Asa - The Southern California Injury Prevention Research Center, UCLA School of Public Health, CHS 78-076, 10833 Le Conte Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, USA
Jess F Kraus - The Southern California Injury Prevention Research Center, UCLA School of Public Health, CHS 78-076, 10833 Le Conte Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, USA
Linda B Bourque - The Southern California Injury Prevention Research Center, UCLA School of Public Health, CHS 78-076, 10833 Le Conte Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, USA
Dushyanthi Vimalachandra - The Southern California Injury Prevention Research Center, UCLA School of Public Health, CHS 78-076, 10833 Le Conte Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, USA
Jenny Yu - The Southern California Injury Prevention Research Center, UCLA School of Public Health, CHS 78-076, 10833 Le Conte Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, USA
Jackie Abrams - The Southern California Injury Prevention Research Center, UCLA School of Public Health, CHS 78-076, 10833 Le Conte Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, USA
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: International journal of epidemiology, Vol.27(3), pp.459-465
DOI: 10.1093/ije/27.3.459
PMID: 9698136
NLM abbreviation: Int J Epidemiol
ISSN: 0300-5771
eISSN: 1464-3685
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Language: English
Date published: 06/1998
Academic Unit: Occupational and Environmental Health; Epidemiology; Nursing; Public Policy Center (Archive)
Record Identifier: 9984215138202771

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