James L. Ruhle California Earthquake Collection, 1971

Collection context

Summary

Creators:
Ruhle, James L. Ruhle, James L., 1936-2016
Abstract:
Extent:
0.21 linear feet, 1 box
Language:
Preferred citation:

James L. Ruhle California Earthquake Collection. Glendale Library, Arts and Culture, Glendale Central Library History Room

Background

Scope and content:

The James L. Ruhle California Earthquake Collection consists of 36 numbered color 35 mm slides (plus one duplicate), and 41 color 8 x 10 photographic prints which replicate the slides. The collection also contains a list describing the context and location of each photograph by slide number. The slides document the impact of the 1971 San Fernando earthquake, also known as the Sylmar earthquake, which was most severe in the northeastern section of the San Fernando Valley approximately 28 miles north of Los Angeles, California. The earthquake caused 64 deaths, most from the collapse of a hospital administered by the Veteranโ€™s Administration. Other deaths occurred at the Olive View Medical Center which had opened only three weeks earlier. The nearby Van Norman Reservoir lost 30 feet of its upper section, but due to an earlier water release, thousands of lives were spared. The images in this collection document damage to the roofs, chimneys, and foundations of private residences, buckled and uplifted sidewalks, the collapse of the emergency vehicle carport and one wing of Olive View Medical Center, buckled sections and collapsed overpasses of the Golden State and Foothill Freeways, landslides in Lopez, Schwartz, and Grapevine Canyons, and the collapsed upper section of Van Norman Reservoir. Color of the photographic prints is degraded.

Acquisition information:
Unknown

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research use.

Terms of access:

Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of this collection has not been transferred to Glendale Central Library. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Preferred citation:

James L. Ruhle California Earthquake Collection. Glendale Library, Arts and Culture, Glendale Central Library History Room

Location of this collection:
222 E. Harvard Street
Glendale, CA 91205, US