|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Seven days . . . . . . web focus on rail safety and accidents in the last week |
||
Earthquake derails Southwest Chief: Sunday, October 17, 1999An earthquake in California derailed Amtrak's Southwest Chief yesterday (16 October 1999). There were no serious
The train was travelling throught the Mojave desert about eight miles from Ludlow when the earthquake struck at about 03:10 PDT. Twenty-one cars of the 24 car train left the rails. Four people suffered minor injuries. According to a spokesperson for railroad owner, Burlington Northern the injuries were limited because the Southwest Chief had slowed from its maximum speed of 90 mph to about 60 mph because it was following a slower moving freight train. The earthquake measured 7.0 on the Richter scale. However, no deaths have been reported and damage caused was slight. This was because the earthquake's epicentre was located in a sparsley populated region just north of Joshua Tree in the Mojave desert.
|
|
This file last updated: Sunday, 17-Oct-1999 17:39:08 EDT