<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<?php
$date = "1970-01-01 00:00:00";
$pattern = "/[-\s:]/";
$components = preg_split($pattern, $date);
print_r($components);
?>
</body>
</html>
Array ( [0] => 1970 [1] => 01 [2] => 01 [3] => 00 [4] => 00 [5] => 00 )