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Worried L.A. Relatives Try to Get Facts

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Times Staff Writer

Frantic with worry, thousands of people in Southern California have gone through anguish for the last two days as they tried in vain to obtain information about their loved ones in a Mexico devastated by the earthquake.

Despite the danger of further quakes and the chaos that might await them in the Mexican capital, thousands crowded onto aircraft flying from Los Angeles to Mexico City on Friday, and airlines said they have received hundred of telephone calls asking about conditions there.

With all telephone communication to Mexico City still out of action, thousands more channeled their frustrations into gathering money, food and supplies to send to the victims, while others sought consolation in special Masses in churches and cathedrals.

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$100,000 Gift

Archbishop Roger Mahony of Los Angeles announced that he is sending an immediate gift of $100,000 to Cardinal Ernesto Corripio Ahumada, the archbishop of Mexico City. And he issued a directive to all Roman Catholic churches in Los Angeles to take up special collections at Sunday’s Masses for the quake victims.

The people of Los Angeles were “saddened by the devastation which has struck so many areas of Mexico,” Mahony said in a telegram to his counterpart in Mexico City.

“We mourn for the many hundreds who have died, and we send our Christian love and concern to the thousands who have been injured and who have suffered the loss of their homes and properties. We shall continue to pray for all of your people that the Lord will help bring an end to their suffering and assist in the rebuilding that is now so important.”

More than 200 people attending a special noon Mass, in Spanish, in the Cathedral of St. Vibiana in downtown Los Angeles, heard Bishop Juan Arbuze refer to their anguish and frustration.

‘Only God Has Answer’

“When we are faced with a huge disaster such as has just occurred in Mexico, we tend to cry out in anguish, ‘Why did God permit this to happen?’ ” he said. “Only God has the answer, but I venture to suggest some good I see coming from this.

“Similar to the shake of the earth could be the shaking that God wants to give some people to make them realize that they are not the owners of their lives. . . .” He added that in such a disaster there is an outpouring of unity and support for the victims “which is most exemplary.”

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Rebecca Julido de Willis, whose mother, brothers and sisters and their families are all in Mexico City, said the Mass had brought her comfort after 36 hours of emotional turmoil. “I’ve heard nothing from my family. I’ve tried phoning down there, calling the Mexican Consulate, radio and television stations. No one has any information.

“When I first heard the news, I had a feeling of hysteria. I wanted to cry and scream. I had to force myself to calm down. If I was a doctor, I’d go down there to help. But the last thing they want is gawkers cluttering up the streets. So although I’m frustrated, I’m going to stay here. The one thing we here can do is stay calm and avoid melodrama.”

Heavy Air Traffic

Airline officials said there was unusually heavy traffic on flights to Mexico City and a big demand for more seats.

“Our planes to Mexico City were pretty full even before the earthquake, and now we’re getting more demand,” said Glenn Bozarth, director of press relations for Western Airlines. “However, some people who are booked on our flights are just not going, so anyone who wants to go to Mexico City should go to the airport and try to get on the planes.”

Ed Ferrer, Mexicana Airlines sales vice president, said his company registered a big demand for seats and that people wanting to go to Mexico City were going to the airport to see if they could find space on planes.

Emotional Scenes

Air traffic to and from Mexico City had returned almost to normal by Friday morning, and there were emotional scenes as families welcomed their loved ones on planes arriving from the Mexican capital.

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Blair Smith of Riverside, who had been at the El Presidente Chapultepec Hotel in Mexico City when the quake struck, was talking to reporters after getting off the plane here Friday morning when his wife, Brenda, ran up from behind him, sobbing, and embraced him for more than a minute.

“I was terrified,” she said. “I hadn’t heard anything about him until I got a call at 2 o’clock this morning from the State Department that he was on this flight.”

Ed Silvera of Culver City was delighted when his close friend, Rodolfo Navarette, walked off the plane. They had last been in touch Monday, when Navarette telephoned to give Silvera the number of his flight.

Working Around Clock

Navarette arrived with his brother, Dr. William Navarette, an intern at 20th of November General Hospital in Mexico City.

William Navarette said that doctors and interns at the hospital are working around the clock. “There is tension, but not confusion,” he said. He added that less severely ill patients were being discharged to make room for earthquake victims.

Another passenger, Eugenio Torres Jr. of Huntington Park, said he was visiting his grandmother in Mexico City when the earthquake struck. Brick walls cracked and windows splintered, but the house remained standing. Torres said the house shook so much he thought the roof was going to fall in, so he grabbed his wife, Martha, who is eight months pregnant, and ran downstairs and outside into the patio to wait for the shaking to end.

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Calls Flood Consulate

Hundreds of telephone calls flooded the offices of the Mexican Consulate General in Los Angeles. Switchboard operator Leticia Castillo Najera said there were about 300 calls for information Thursday and more than 200 before noon Friday.

Castillo Najera’s mother was visiting relatives in Mexico City at the time of the quake and she had received no word from them when reporters visited the consulate Friday morning. However, she let out a cry of relief as she answered one call to discover that it was her sister calling from Guadalajara to tell her that the family was safe.

Eduardo Ibarrola, assistant to the consul general, said telephone lines at the consulate are being manned 24 hours a day, but apart from a brief telex message Thursday afternoon from the Mexican Foreign Ministry, the consulate had very little news to pass on to the public.

Station Raising Money

Money is pouring into the offices of radio station KALI in San Gabriel. “The response is absolutely great,” station manager Arturo Gonzalez said. More than $6,000 had been collected since Thursday night, when the station discontinued normal programming to broadcast only earthquake news and information about donations.

One contributor of money was Florencio Munoz, 42, of San Gabriel, who has relatives in Mexico City. “I have to know how they are,” he said. “I’m very nervous. I can’t think of anything all day except my family down there.”

Virginia Godon of Hawaiian Gardens, who works in a hospital, donated $50. She has a nephew in Mexico City and has received no word from him.

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Marcelo Villafane said he tried to call his family in Mexico City more than 30 times in the last 36 hours but keeps being told he can’t get through. “I have two daughters, my mother and my nephews living in the area where the earthquake struck,” he said. “I’ll be going down to my brother’s house in a little while to use the phone again. I know it’s tough to get through, but I’m not just going to sit around.”

Paula Gonzalez, mother of three children, said she arrived from Mexico City two weeks ago, but her brother-in-law and mother-in-law live in a part of the Mexican capital reported to have been badly hit. “Everybody is worried, not just for their families but for everybody down there,” she said.

Times staff writers Mirna Alfonso, Stephanie Chavez, Hector Gutierrez, Rosalva Hernandez, Julio Moran and Carmen Valencia contributed to this story.

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