Many businesses did not receive any aid at all . Those that did receive aid had no help with indirect losses . Indirect losses varied from inventory or data corruption , disruption in the workplace , productivity , etc . Data and inventory losses were possibly the most damaging , especially for retail stores . Retail stores lost inventory as well as people 's interest for a period of time after the quake . One of the vital elements to prevent damage and injury were well structured buildings . This can prevent the loss of life as well as inventory . Businesses that did not sustain very much damage also gained a sense of security that may be unreliable as the moment magnitude was high but the hypocenter was deep under the earth . This earthquake was a 6.8 moment magnitude that caused $ 2 billion damage while the Northridge earthquake was a 6.7 moment magnitude , but caused more than $ 20 billion worth of damage as the hypocenter of the Northridge earthquake was much shallower and closer to the surface of the earth
Northridge earthquake
1994 Northridge earthquake
2001 Nisqually earthquake