When the Northridge earthquake struck at 4:31 a.m. on January 17, 1994, it left much of the city in ruins with buildings and freeways collapsed. When the dust settled, 57 people had died — including 33 from fallen buildings. Of those, 16 were killed when the 164-unit Northridge Meadows apartments collapsed. The 6.7 magnitude quake was one of the most costly disasters in U.S. history. On the 24th anniversary of the quake, we look back at this defining moment in San Fernando Valley history.

In this 1994 file photo, fire and rescue vehicles fill the street in front of the Northridge Meadows apartment complex as the grim search for victims goes on inside. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

Los Angeles city limit sign on the 5 Freeway. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

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Page one of the Los Angeles Daily News on January 18, 1994. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994.

Firefighters work to free trapped residents at the Northridge Meadows Apartments on Reseda Blvd in Northridge CA. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News File Photo)

A Fire Department chaplain speaks to a couple at the collapsed Northridge Meadows apartment building. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)



The wreckage of a truck driven by Jimmy Menzi rests in the middle of Balboa Blvd. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

A couple leaves an outdoor emergency facility at Granada Hills Community Hospital after receiving treatment on the morning of the earthquake. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

LAPD officer Roger Ruggiero climbs to the top of the Antelope Valley Freeway transition to the Southbound Golden State Freeway where motorcycle officer Clarence Wayne Dean died while reporting to work in the darkness after the 4:31 a.m. quake. Dean fell from the partially collapsed bridge when he was unable to stop in time. (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Robin Purcell makes his way to his daughter’s apartment on Plummer St in Northridge to recover some of her possessions. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

Firefighters enter the collapsed Northridge Meadows apartments on January 17, 1994. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)



Rescuers search for victims of the quake in Studio City. The death toll would climb in the hours and days after the quake as bodies were discovered in the rubble. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

A firefighter pulls a hose through the Tahitian Mobile Park in Sylmar, CA. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

The quake toppled the steeple at Trinity Church in San Fernando. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

The scene near Balboa Blvd. and Rinaldi Street as the sun rose on the morning of Jan. 17, 1994. Flames from a broken gas line destroyed surrounding homes as water from a ruptured water main flowed down the street. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

Emergency workers remove a survivor from the first floor of the Northridge Meadows apartment building. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)



Terrence Bito douses his car with water as flames approach on Balboa Boulevard. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

Latanya Davis, left, and Stefanie Coston, students at CSUN, bundle up on a lawn in front of their dormitory as dawn breaks on Jan. 17, 1994. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

An auto traveling on the 118 freeway got caught when the freeway collapsed at Gothic Avenue. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

A woman leads two children through a maze of tents set up by the National Guard for displaced quake victims at Lanark Park. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 the morning of Jan. 17, 1994. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

A car fell off of a hydraulic lift in a repair shop in Northridge, CA. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. , (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)



A woman and her daughter rush from the flames that erupted in the Tahitian Mobile Home Park. Raging fires spawned by the quake raced through three Sylmar mobile home parks, destroying more than 100 homes. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

Nannette Stone is held by her son, David, as a neighbor’s mobile home burns at the Tahitian mobile home park on Cobalt Street in Sylmar. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

Firemen put out a trailer home fire that burned in Sylmar, CA. 1/17/1994, The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)



The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

Officer Joshua Wong monitors the area around a collapsed section of the Santa Monica Freeway near Fairfax Ave. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

Students from California State University Northridge, watch as flames from a ruptured gas main burn near Balboa Boulevard and Rinaldi Street in Granada Hills. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

A masonry building at the intersection of Ventura and Van Nuys boulevards in Sherman Oaks took a beating from the Jan. 17, 1994 quake. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)



The Kaiser Permanente medical offices in Granada Hills were destroyed. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

A home on Sunswept Drive in Studio City was flattened after the quake sent it plunging down the hillside. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

A friend retrieves belongings for the owner of a hillside home on Buena Park Drive in Studio City. The home was destroyed by the Jan. 17, 1994 Northridge earthquake. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

Wrapped in blankets, residents view damage to an apartment building in Sherman Oaks. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

Part of a hillside home overlooking Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades was lost in a landslide caused by the earthquake. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)



The Northridge Fashion Center became one of the symbols of the quake’s destructiveness. Damage to the mall, built in the early ’70s, was estimated at $131 million. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994, (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Police kept watch over damaged structures such as the Wherehouse in Northridge, to prevent looting. The quake toppled the steeple at Trinity Church in San Fernando. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Michael Owen Baker, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Steve Langdon hugs roommate Gerard Prezioso on Jan. 30, 1994. The two shared Apartment 105 in the temblor-devastated Northridge Meadows complex. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Photo by Gene Blevins, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

The city of Fillmore in Ventura County was hit hard by the quake. Among the damaged buildings was the Fillmore Hotel. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)



Structural engineer Tom Henson puts red tags on a building on Central Avenue in Fillmore. The tags declare that the building is unsafe. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

The intersection of the Golden State and the Antelope Valley freeways in Newhall Pass. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

Rolling stock is strewn about the Southern Pacific tracks after the quake caused this derailment in Northridge. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

Truck driver Ervin Nichols of Bend, Oregon, waits as his truck is lowered from the shattered Golden State Freeway in Saugus two days after the quake. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)



Traffic snakes along Sierra Highway in Canyon Country early on the moring of Jan. 21 as commuters try to get through Newhall Pass. Truck driver Ervin Nichols of Bend, Oregon, waits as his truck is lowered from the shattered Golden State Freeway in Saugus two days after the quake. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

Frustrated commuters limped along Sierra Hwy. near San Fernando Rd. on Jan. 19, 1994, as they try to bypass damaged freeways following the Northridge earthquake. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Commuters cram the platform at the Metrolink station in Santa Clarita. Ridership on the rail-transit line rose sharply after the quake. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Theresa Wright tries to make order out of the chaos in the kitchen of her Granada Hills home. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

A woman sits outside as she listens to reports about aftershocks. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)



Rene Valenzuela carries an armload of clothes out of the condemned Mountain Terrace apartments on Walnut Street in Newhall. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

Senior citizens from three different convalescent homes in the Santa Clarita Valley were housed in the Boys and Girls Club gym in Newhall. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

First aid is provided at the Kaiser Permanente parking lot on Balboa Boulevard. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

Belen Navarro, 9, front, leads her sisters and cousins in prayer before eating their lunches at a tent city. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Customers wait outside the Hughes Market in Valencia for a chance to buy water and food. At many stores, the wait in line lasted for hours. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)



Motorists line up for gas at an Arco station at Sherman Way and Balboa Boulevard in Reseda. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

Their water service cut off, Granada Hills residents fill containers from a water company truck at Granada Hills High School. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

Quake victims line up for food and supplies at Lanark Park as guardsmen stand by. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

National Guardsman Abraham Lucero plays soccer with a child at a tent city in Reseda Park on Jan. 23, 1994. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)



The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

Residents of a damaged apartment building warm their hands over a fire at North Hollywood Park. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Marie Thomas hawks T-shirts on the corner of Balboa Boulevard and Devonshire Street. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

Workers mop up oil that spilled into the Santa Clara River near The Old Road on Jan. 20, 1994. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

The 6.7-magnitude Northridge earthquake struck on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 a.m. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)



The 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 a.m. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

The 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 a.m. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

The 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 a.m. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

The 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 a.m. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

The 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 a.m. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)



The 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 a.m. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

The 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 a.m. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

The 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 a.m. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

The 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 a.m. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

A child stands in his grandmother’s makeshift campsite at Lanark Park. Nearly 18,000 people camped out at local parks in the days following the Northridge quake on Jan. 17, 1994.. (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)



Jon Vender looks for valuables that might have survived the inferno that destroyed his mother-in-law’s trailer home in Sylmar, CA. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994., (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Children bathe in a milk crate at Lanark Park in Canoga Park, CA. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

A man watches over his children as they play with a bird at Lanark Park in Canoga Park, CA. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Children are fed a cup of noodles from a woman at a family campsite in North Hollywood Park, The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

People reach for donated food at Lanark Park in Canoga Park, CA. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)



A woman looks through the rubble of their burned trailer home in Sylmar, CA. on Jan. 18, 1994. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

Victims scramble for appointment forms from a federal relief official at the Winnetka Relief Center. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) established disaster aid centers throughout the quake-battered areas to assist victims. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

The 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 a.m. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

The 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 a.m. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)



The 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 a.m. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

A crane lifts a steel support under the Antelope Valley Freeway overpass at the Golden State Freeway. The 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 a.m. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

The 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 a.m. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

Firefighters look over the rubble that was, at one time, the Northridge Meadows three-story apartment complex. The apartments were home to more than 400 people, sixteen were killed as the first floor collapsed in the violent shaking. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Former tenants Joan DeWolf and Gary Benoit carry suitcases to salvage possessions from the Northridge Meadows Apartments on July 15, 1994. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)



The Daily News newsroom in Woodland Hills on the morning of Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

The Daily News in Woodland Hills on the morning of Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

In this 1994 file photo, a car sits crushed under a Reseda apartment building. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

INTERACTIVE: What the worst-hit areas looked like in 1994 vs. when we returned 20 years later.