Last week the Fillmore Historical Museum hosted a Virtual Zoom presentation on the 1994 Northridge earthquake that rocked through Fillmore 30 years ago in January 1994. Inset, guest speakers Pat Askren, 1994 Fire Chief, and Dick Diaz, 1994 Chief of Police, as they share their stories during the virtual presentation. Above are folks who attended the open house at the Fillmore Depot which was held Saturday afternoon. Photo credit Fillmore Historical Museum.

Courtesy Fillmore Historical Museum

January 17 was the 30th anniversary of the 6.7 magnitude earthquake that rocked the city of Fillmore. Sixty homes were destroyed, many more badly damaged and downtown lay in ruin. It is the mission of the Fillmore Museum to provide the people of Fillmore with records of historical events. Sue Zeider and Christine Villegas, volunteers at the museum, made preparations for the commemoration.

Mud Turtle Production, assisted by Paul Neuman and Ms. Villegas, produced a documentary showing the devastation and personal memories of several citizens. Ms. Villegas presented a slide show at the Fillmore Rotary meeting on Wednesday. Thursday evening, January 18th, as part of the ongoing virtual series, Ms. Zeider organized a Zoom presentation of the 1994 Huell Houser public television episode of his Fillmore visit. Guest speakers, the former Police Chief Richard Diaz and former Fire Chief Pat Askren gave their accounts of the events. Over 50 people participated in the virtual event.
The commemoration culminated on Saturday afternoon, January 20th, with an Open House at the Fillmore Depot. The two videos were shown and information on earthquake preparedness was shared. Despite the rain, many people attended.
You can view the videos on the Museum’s website:

https://www.fillmore historicalmuseum.org/items-5/shaken%2C-rattled-and-reconstructed%2C-january-18%2C-2024
And https://www.fillmore historicalmuseum.org/items-5/%22fillmore-earthquake %2C%22-1994
With the growth in population over the last 30 years, it is understood that many of our citizens are unaware of the devastation Fillmore suffered and are unsuspecting of the potential danger of future earthquakes. Hopefully this commemoration will raise that awareness.