THE LOS ANGELES EARTHQUAKE : Residents Shaken Into Awareness of Quake Readiness

Some were flagging down water delivery trucks on the streets, while others were stocking up on flashlight batteries and rethinking the value of earthquake insurance.

For many more Angelenos, the day after a good-sized earthquake pitched and yawed across the Southland was at least a day for some foresight.

“We’ve got their attention, let’s put it that way,” said Karen Patterson, Los Angeles’ emergency programs coordinator whose phones clamored ceaselessly with requests for guidance about quake preparation.

Quake Readiness Pamphlets

Southern California’s typical earthquake sang-froid was shaken enough by Thursday’s temblor to send people to agencies such as the America Red Cross, where, spokesman Ralph Wright said, free pamphlets in 10 languages and even $4 books about quake readiness were flying out of their offices.

“In a way, it’s like the Good Lord giving us a nudge to be prepared,” Wright said. “This is actually one of those happy disasters where a lot of people participated in it and most came out winners. All of a sudden, they’ve begun to realize that ‘if a major quake hit, I wouldn’t be a winner, and I should do something about it.’ ”

A really big quake is predicted for some time within the next few decades. But after Thursday’s quake, “some time” suddenly became a lot closer.

‘Better Be Prepared’

“If this is any indication of the one that is coming, then I better be prepared,” said Anne Fink, 35, whose third-floor Sherman Oaks apartment shook alarmingly Thursday. “I don’t want to look like a fool.”

Fink spent part of Friday collecting supplies at a survivalist store in North Hollywood--flashlight, knife, dehydrated and freeze-dried foods and water for survival kits for her home and her car.

The shaking had hardly stopped Thursday when drivers began pulling up to the Sparkletts plant in Eagle Rock, loading the back seats of their cars with 10 or 15 gallons of bottled water.

“I was really surprised,” said marketing director Ron Burke, whose phone lines have been jammed with demands from would-be new customers and old customers wanting extra water.

“It’s difficult to put a number on it,” but new customer calls have been “considerable,” Burke said. (And after the 1971 Sylmar quake, he said, 2,000 calls were about broken water bottles. With plastic bottles, only about 30 or 40 complaints came in Thursday from customers whose coolers had tipped over.)

On Hold for 40 Minutes

At Arrowhead Water in the San Fernando Valley, customer service representative Marco Irigoyen said, “We’ve had people waiting up to 40 minutes (on hold) because of the amount of calls coming in,” including requests for distilled water for batteries for backup generators.

In Alhambra, near the epicenter, customers at an Alpha Beta market were buying slightly more canned food, but literally clearing the shelves of water in one- and 2.5-gallon containers.

“We had a decent stock before this earthquake; now we’re down to nothing,” acting assistant manager Al Bordallo said. He said the grocery chain is doubling its shipments of water, batteries and flashlights to its stores.

“We’re all doing the same thing. I just bought 12 gallons of water myself,” he said. “It’s just a good precaution to have.”

A Thrifty store in Whittier could not open for business until late Thursday night, and when it did, “That’s all they bought--ice cream, batteries and flashlights,” manager Wayne Radetski said. His staff had cleaned up so thoroughly that Radetski had to tape Polaroid snapshots of the mess on his desk to prove to customers how ravaged the store had been.

On the theory that hindsight is better than no sight, some homeowners were inquiring about earthquake insurance--even though many companies will not write new policies for at least a month or two.

‘Call Me Back in 30 Days’

“My second call yesterday was ‘I excluded earthquake coverage; now I would like to have it,’ ” said Joyce Wilcox at State Farm Insurance in Highland Park. “I said, ‘Thank you very much. Call me back in 30 days.’ ”

Another call came from a man who wanted a complete homeowner’s policy for his new house--in Whittier.

Times staff writer Lynn O’Shaughnessy contributed to this story.