LOS ANGELES TIMES SPECIAL REPORT : IMAGES OF THE NORTHRIDGE EARTHQUAKE : Damage : A VIOLENT FORCE SHATTER WHAT HAD BEEN PAINSTAKINGLY BUILT

Everyone knew the magnitude 6.6 quake was, if not The Big One, at least A Big One. But few were prepared for the stark images that emerged with the cool light of day.

Shops and schools, buildings as familiar and hospitable as our own homes, lay in twisted ruin. Proof of the quake’s injustice, the hand of destruction was not only heavy, but fickle. Entire blocks were torn up, while adjacent neighborhoods escaped untouched.