Crushed Cars Pulled From ‘Entombment’ on Freeway : Aftershock Brings New Terror

A dozen tall cranes began lifting flattened cars containing bodies out of the tangled rubble of the Nimitz Freeway today, while the Bay Area sought to regain its calm after a strong, damaging early morning aftershock brought the terror of Tuesday’s big quake back to life.

Work crews on the Nimitz used jackhammers to punch holes in the top layer of concrete debris so cars could be found and extracted. A human arm was seen in one Acura that emerged, crushed beyond any recognition as a vehicle except for the steering wheel.

There was no sign of survivors. Fourteen victims had been pulled from the mile-and-a-quarter long stretch of collapsed freeway and identified before this morning.

There was some optimism, however, that earlier estimates of more than 250 dead in the freeway rubble were too high. Alameda County officials said they have only 75 people still unaccounted for. However, some victims may not have been reported.

The magnitude 5.0 aftershock today was centered near Watsonville, an agricultural town in Santa Cruz County about 85 miles south of San Francisco. It struck at 3:15 a.m., waking thousands of people trying to enjoy their first night’s sleep since the main 6.9 magnitude quake shook the Bay Area.

The aftershock and two others that measured 4.5 collapsed a church steeple in Watsonville, forced closure of a bridge and started a fire that destroyed a mobile home. The new damage there added to the fears of relief agencies over residents in Santa Cruz County, where the main quake was also centered.

Three airlifts were taking medical supplies and provisions into Santa Cruz. A plane from Santa Barbara left this morning to ferry medical supplies to three Santa Cruz-area hospitals. The Air National Guard plans to dispatch two helicopters from Mather Air Force Base to bring supplies into Santa Cruz and nurses to Watsonville.

The Salvation Army sent 9,500 gallons of water into Santa Cruz County Wednesday night.

“Santa Cruz County is partially isolated . . . ,” said Tom Mullins of the state Emergency Medical Services Authority. “An estimated 5,000 to 6,000 residents are using trucked-in water and large numbers are also without power.”

At least 201 homes and apartment buildings and 72 commercial structures in the county have received serious damage. Emergency shelter is needed because rain--predicted to fall in the next few days--would make camping out more difficult for displaced families.

Santa Cruz police also resumed their search this morning for Robin Ortiz, 23, whose friends insist she is buried in the rubble of the Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Co., which collapsed on Tuesday.

Five friends were arrested Wednesday night after they objected to police halting the rescue efforts at nightfall. About 20 people marched in protest outside the fallen shop in the downtown Pacific Garden Mall after her backpack was sighted in the rubble and her car was spotted nearby, unmoved since the quake.

Meanwhile, all but 13 of San Francisco’s 165 public schools reopened today. Nearly 100,000 people in the Bay Area remained without electricity this morning, but power was restored in San Francisco’s Financial District, causing thousands of alarms to start ringing.

This story was written in Los Angeles by Times Staff Writer Kevin Roderick from staff reports in the Bay Area.