P.M. BRIEFING : Pacific Bell Network Escapes Quake Harm; Lines Overloaded

Pacific Bell officials said today their telephone network survived Tuesday’s devastating Northern California earthquake without significant damage, but the system was being overloaded by a huge increase in calls into and out of the San Francisco area.

Because of the surge in long-distance calls to the region, many calls were being blocked. Recorded messages told callers to try again later.

The local network around San Francisco was unscathed, but because of the big increase in calls, callers were having difficulty connecting with the network, said Mary Hallisey, a Washington spokeswoman for Pacific Bell’s parent, the Pacific Telesis Group.

“The local network is in fine shape,” Hallisey said. “There is no damage to the central offices or the network itself. It is operating. There is a gridlock problem based on the fact that so many people are trying to call in all at once. . . . When you pick up the phone out there you don’t get a dial tone right away. . . . The system is not out, it’s just a very slow dial tone.”

“You’ve got customers trying to get hold of friends, loved ones, work,” said Sue Galloway, district manager for Pacific Bell’s network in Southern California.

“It’s extremely heavy, and my anticipation is it will get heavier as the day goes on.”

“We’re asking people not to call in for a 24-hour period,” said Lissa Zanville, a Pacific Bell spokeswoman.

American Telephone & Telegraph Co., which handles about 70% of the nation’s long-distance calls, appealed to people not to try telephoning the earthquake area.