The State - News from Nov. 5, 1987

Victims of last year’s Eastern Sierra earthquake are unhappy with the government formula used to determine who gets aid money, complaining that the formula discriminates against rural areas. While Los Angeles and Orange counties were declared state and federal disaster areas after a devastating 5.9 quake on Oct. 1, residents in Mono County have received no assistance after a 6.2 temblor struck Bishop and the surrounding areas on July 21, 1986. More than 10,000 structures were damaged and seven people died in last month’s quake and aftershocks centered in the Whittier area. “Maybe if there was a major quake that leveled a couple more houses and caused more damage, we would have gotten aid,” said Boe Turner, director of Mono County’s Office of Emergency Services. Uninsured damage from the Sierra quake was placed at $504,000, with total damage estimated at $1.5 million, Turner said. About 50 mobile homes were damaged.