EARTHQUAKES IN MEXICO : U.S. Relief Includes Hardware, Experts; Cash Aid Suggested

American relief efforts for Mexican earthquake victims went into full swing Saturday, with government aid consisting largely of hardware and rescue experts. Volunteer agencies urged cash donations rather than food or clothing.

M. Peter McPherson, administrator of the Agency for International Development, said in Washington that the Mexican government’s list of needed items seemed modest in view of the scope of the catastrophe.

He said his agency has dispatched 40 rescue specialists to Mexico City, including operators of “very sophisticated” audio and video equipment that will be used to search the rubble for victims.

Finding victims who are buried alive is the highest priority of the U.S. relief effort, McPherson said.

He stressed that the Mexicans themselves are “carrying the major burden” and said this country’s efforts are only “complementary.”

Elliott Abrams, assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs, joined McPherson in briefing reporters. Both officials said they had no estimate of how much U.S. aid will be given, but Abrams said Congress is “quite receptive” to additional requests for help.

The Mexican government held off its request for U.S. help--the first such request in many years--until Friday night.

Asked if the request indicates an improvement of relations between the two countries, McPherson said, “I don’t think that we ought to necessarily speculate on their motives, except they want to save lives.”

Officials urged Americans who want to help victims of the catastrophe to send cash instead of materials. They said that they cannot confirm the number of dead but noted that U.S. Ambassador John Gavin has estimated 10,000 dead in Mexico City alone. They did confirm a previous report that five Americans were killed.

Covering Mexico’s Needs

Jose Aponte, team leader for the International Red Cross in Mexico City, said local contributions of food, clothing and medicine “more than cover Mexican Red Cross needs.”

In a news release from the Red Cross’ Washington office, Aponte said: “Damage in Mexico City is concentrated in small pockets in which there is nearly total devastation. Outside the pockets, however, damage is minimal, and equipment and supplies for rescue efforts appear to be adequate.”

He said the Mexican Red Cross has 3,000 volunteers in Mexico City doing rescue work, driving ambulances, running a hospital and providing medical services. A plane carrying 10,000 pounds of urgently needed intravenous fluids and equipment specifically requested by the Mexican Red Cross arrived Friday night, Aponte said.

U.S. aid en route to Mexico City on Saturday included helicopters, firefighters, 1,000 special breathing masks for rescue workers and 10 generators.

Search-Rescue Experts

Search dogs and handlers were to be picked up in Nashville, Tenn., by a military plane that took off from Pittsburgh earlier with a five-member team of search--and-rescue experts and demolition specialists.

McPherson said private firms from Baton Rouge, La., and San Antonio were sending teams at the government’s request to review heavy equipment needs for demolition work.

He said the Mexican government asked for further help Saturday afternoon, including a field hospital, two kitchens, radios, more generators, water supplies and clothing. “The list is long but very specific,” McPherson said.

U.S. churches and corporations joined disaster relief agencies and individuals in sending help to Mexico.

$400,000 in Funds

Spokesmen for the American Red Cross, CARE and Catholic Relief Services in Los Angeles said they have committed a total of $400,000 in funds so far and have sent teams to assess further needs.

The Red Cross said Southern Californians who have called to offer blood were turned down because it has not been established that blood is needed.

Barbara Haller, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Chapter of the Red Cross, said she could not give a dollar figure on donations until Monday. But, she said, “The response in Southern California is much greater than anything I have ever seen in a disaster.”

However, there was some evidence that not all was going smoothly as relief supplies arrived in Mexico City.

A ham radio message picked up in Texas and relayed to Los Angeles indicated that Mexican authorities refused to unload one plane carrying unsolicited supplies until they received specific instructions from the donating organization.

Reports of Diversions

In another message monitored in Los Angeles, a Red Cross ham operator in Mexico warned that all relief supplies sent to Mexico City should be clearly marked as intended for the Red Cross. Otherwise, he said, Mexican government agencies at the airport were commandeering supplies before Red Cross officials could pick them up.

Despite statements from the State Department and the International Red Cross that they were not needed, various volunteer organizations still planned to dispatch relief teams and supplies to Mexico. Six pickup trucks driven by members of the Guardian Angels, the self-styled crime fighting organization, reached Mexicali on Saturday after first being refused entry by Mexican authorities at San Ysidro, a spokesman for the group said. Another caravan of about a dozen pickups loaded with emergency supplies will leave Southern California for Mexico sometime today, according to spokesman Noah Argil.

In Northern California, the Flying Doctors group--which each month sends doctors into Sonora, Mexico’s northernmost state--said six of its members are scheduled to fly to Mexico City on a commercial flight Monday. The organization’s president, Sally Miller of Santa Cruz, said the team will include a physician with a Mexican license, a nurse practitioner, a Mexican-born paramedic and three rescue and demolition experts.

Swamped With Donations

In Los Angeles, the Spanish-language radio station KSKQ was so swamped with donations of food and clothing that it stopped accepting such contributions. However, a spokesman said that the station had collected $25,000 in cash and expects to double that amount by 10 p.m. today. The money will go to the Red Cross, according to program director Raul Alarcon.

The Mexican Chamber of Commerce in Los Angeles is accepting cash donations, which will be turned over to the Mexican Consulate General. The chamber secretary, Eduardo Diaz, said he had collected more than $1,000 by Saturday afternoon.

Dial Info Inc. opened a Los Angeles phone line through which donations can be made automatically to the Red Cross through Pacific Bell’s billing system. A similar line in San Francisco had received 4,000 calls, each representing a $2 donation.

CARE’s Los Angles spokesman, Richard Hoff, said that the local unit has pledged $100,000 to aid Mexican earthquake victims and is sending a four-member team to Mexico City to determine how the organization can be most effective.

Jerry Belcher reported from Los Angeles, with Times staff writers Catalina Camia and Patt Morrison also contributing to this story. Lee May reported from Washington.