Catastrophic Calamities is the new podcast from Pulpular Media, telling the stories of both famous and forgotten tragedies of the 19th and 20th centuries (with the occasional foray further back), the communities and people whose lives they changed forever. Some are natural disasters, some caused by people, some are just an unlucky confluence of both.  All of them, deserve to be remembered. Listener suggestions are welcome! Find us on Facebook @Calamities.podcast Follow us on

The 6.7 Northridge Earthquake, followed by a 6.0 aftershock less than a minute later, wasn't the biggest earthquake to hit Southern California, but it was one of the worst, because the epicenter was directly under a populated area. It did over $20 billion in damage and, more importantly, at least 60 people lost their lives—16 of them in one building. The official death toll stands at 61, with one study, by USC and the USGS, reaching 72. But Nobody really knows for sure. What