Narrative:

I was vectoring aircraft for three of the four final approach courses in my sector. The associated control towers closed the runways to check for earthquake damage. Consequently I had to cancel some approach clearances; delay and re-sequence aircraft while waiting for the indefinite time period of when the towers notified me that the runways were re-opened. During this time period; my radar associate took radar on a cessna on an eastbound vector at 6;000 ft towards higher terrain to the east. I was focusing so much on the complex traffic situations that resulted from the sudden closures of the above mentioned runways that I did not turn the cessna southbound for a base leg for the approach to the airport before the aircraft entered an area where the MVA was 8;000 ft. I noticed the aircraft was too low and took immediate action to turn the aircraft back to the southwest and issued climb instructions. The pilot responded that he could maintain his own terrain separation; indicating he didn't feel the need to climb; but I issued a second climb instruction and the pilot began climbing as instructed. The weather obviously VMC in that area as the pilot was able to see the terrain. During and after the earthquake I felt a little dizzy and disoriented from the earthquake. That may have been a factor; but I am not sure. I was still feeling a bit disorientated when the incident occurred. If a controller is busy; gets distracted; or the pilot goes NORDO; this incident will occur again. If the pilot is in the clouds without ground contact; it could be fatal. 1. Change our procedures to not hand off aircraft to the next sector on a heading towards higher terrain below the higher terrain's MVA. 2. After handing aircraft off to a sector headed for higher terrain; mandate that the controller handing off the aircraft monitor that aircraft until the aircraft is observed to be turned by the next sector away from the higher terrain. 3. In this particular situation; my area should develop a new procedure to have these aircraft being vectored for the approach to intercept a julian VORTAC radial that would ensure that these aircraft will turn and remain clear of higher terrain.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: SCT Controller described an MVA separation event following an earthquake that temporarily closed all airport runways; the distraction caused by the multiple runway closures contributed to the MVA infraction.

Narrative: I was vectoring aircraft for three of the four final approach courses in my sector. The associated control towers closed the runways to check for earthquake damage. Consequently I had to cancel some approach clearances; delay and re-sequence aircraft while waiting for the indefinite time period of when the towers notified me that the runways were re-opened. During this time period; my RADAR Associate took RADAR on a Cessna on an eastbound vector at 6;000 FT towards higher terrain to the east. I was focusing so much on the complex traffic situations that resulted from the sudden closures of the above mentioned runways that I did not turn the Cessna southbound for a base leg for the approach to the airport before the aircraft entered an area where the MVA was 8;000 FT. I noticed the aircraft was too low and took immediate action to turn the aircraft back to the southwest and issued climb instructions. The pilot responded that he could maintain his own terrain separation; indicating he didn't feel the need to climb; but I issued a second climb instruction and the pilot began climbing as instructed. The weather obviously VMC in that area as the pilot was able to see the terrain. During and after the earthquake I felt a little dizzy and disoriented from the earthquake. That may have been a factor; but I am not sure. I was still feeling a bit disorientated when the incident occurred. If a Controller is busy; gets distracted; or the pilot goes NORDO; this incident will occur again. If the pilot is in the clouds without ground contact; it could be fatal. 1. Change our procedures to not hand off aircraft to the next sector on a heading towards higher terrain below the higher terrain's MVA. 2. After handing aircraft off to a sector headed for higher terrain; mandate that the Controller handing off the aircraft monitor that aircraft until the aircraft is observed to be turned by the next sector away from the higher terrain. 3. In this particular situation; my area should develop a new procedure to have these aircraft being vectored for the approach to intercept a JULIAN VORTAC radial that would ensure that these aircraft will turn and remain clear of higher terrain.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.