Quake Relief Trickles In; Hope Fades for Those Trapped : Philippines: Medical officials warn of epidemics. Blocked roads stall heavy equipment.

Rescue crews and relief supplies began to trickle into this stricken resort and university city Wednesday as hope faded for hundreds of people believed trapped under collapsed buildings as a result of Monday’s earthquake.

Medical officials warned of possible epidemics as tens of thousands of residents huddled for a third day in tattered tents and makeshift shelters in parks and streets. Drenched by daily rains, many complained that they had no food, water or medicine.

By Wednesday, doctors working under umbrellas and sheets of plastic had treated nearly 800 of the injured in muddy outdoor areas. The city’s three hospitals were all damaged and without power. Aftershocks continued throughout the day.

A grim silence lay across Baguio, a mountain city of 200,000 people, as grief-stricken families stood and stared while rescue teams searched, mostly in vain, for survivors in the rubble of two hotels, the Hyatt Terraces and the Nevada.

Without electric power, the delicate work stopped as daylight faded. Almost no rescue operations were evident at the 20 other hotels and at schools, office buildings and factories brought down by the quake. Hundreds of homes also were damaged or destroyed.

Brig. Gen. J. M. Aquias of the Philippine army, who is directing relief operations, confirmed 186 deaths in the Baguio area. He estimated that the toll may reach 400 to 600, but others put it even higher.

Lt. Col. Robert Plunkett, commander of Camp John Hay, a U.S. military recreation facility that has become a staging area for relief operations, said: “I personally believe it’s going to be in the thousands, but it’s going to be weeks before we know.” Plunkett said about 1,500 Americans live in Baguio.

Civil defense officials reported 315 dead and 86,000 homeless across Luzon Island as a result of the quake, which was measured at a magnitude of 7.7. President Corazon Aquino, who flew into Baguio by helicopter Wednesday to inspect the damage, ordered area schools closed for a month and declared a state of emergency throughout central Luzon.

In Cabanatuan, near the quake’s epicenter, workers began using heavy cranes after hope died for up to 30 students still buried in a six-story college building. Sixty-two students and teachers are known to have died in the collapse.

Hardest hit was Baguio, about 110 miles north of Manila, and the surrounding province of Benguet. The city’s airport was closed, and landslides blocked all access roads.

Philippine officials said they hoped to clear a coastal road by early today. Ambulances and trucks with food, water and relief equipment waited at San Fernando while crews used bulldozers and dynamite to clear the debris.

Until the bulldozers arrive, rescuers had little but their hands and simple tools to search for survivors. A crane was at work at the Hyatt Terraces, but it was dwarfed by the 12 giant concrete terraces, which had toppled sideways and then sandwiched together.

One casino worker was pulled out bloody but conscious early Wednesday. Heinrich Maulbecker, the hotel’s general manager, said 80 people, including 30 tourists, are still unaccounted for.

Nearby, volunteers cooked huge vats of rice under a parachute rigged as a shelter.

A series of aftershocks rocked the area about noon Wednesday, sending rescuers scurrying. Later, all rescue work was stopped for several hours because of a report that another quake was imminent. None occurred.

One of the Hyatt survivors, Ed Feist, an Australian, said he was holding a meeting in a second-floor conference room when the quake hit. He and 11 associates managed to get out a window. Two others disappeared.

“It was horrible, horrible,” he said. “I told everyone to be calm. But the shaking wouldn’t stop. Then we felt everything cave in. And we just dropped two floors.”

Three other people were rescued bruised but alive from the five-story Hotel Nevada, which twisted and split before it crumbled. Local miners, assisted by U.S. military engineers, burrowed into the debris after hearing voices.

Ed Nevada, the hotel’s owner, said about half of the 75 guests are still unaccounted for.

Up to 170 people were feared dead in the city’s Export Processing Zone, where a giant three-story factory building collapsed and caught fire Tuesday afternoon. The building was still smoldering Wednesday.

“We were in voice contact with several people until the fire,” said Michael Raeuber, a German who heads one of the six companies that used the building. “Now, of course, there’s nothing.”

Ramon Farolan, the company’s director, said 20 are known dead and up to 150 are believed still inside. He said none could have survived the chemical fire.

“We need heavy equipment to pry the concrete floors apart,” he said. “There’s nothing we can do until the equipment comes up. And it can’t come until the road is cleared.”

Meanwhile, U.S. military helicopters landed on a fairway at Camp John Hay’s golf course, carrying body bags, hospital supplies and about 250 engineers, technicians, doctors and other personnel.

A medical evacuation center with a dozen beds was set up. Doctors there sent more than 30 of the most seriously injured to a hospital at Clark Air Base.

“The ones who are trapped are running out of time,” said Capt. Kim Lowe, head of the trauma unit. “After 72 hours, they get dehydrated and start to die. We’re fast approaching that point.”

The U.S. Embassy announced that a special 21-member disaster relief team had arrived from Washington with four dogs and power saws, rope, medical supplies and other gear. Other supplies were airlifted in from Guam.

Japan sent medical and rescue teams and $300,000 worth of relief supplies. Canada, Thailand, Israel, England and at least eight other countries also offered assistance.

WHERE TO SEND CONTRIBUTIONS

Here are some of the relief organizations collecting aid for the victims of the earthquake in the Philippines: American Jewish Distribution Committee, 711 3rd Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017; Telephone: (212) 687-6200 Catholic Relief Services, P.O. Box 17220, Baltimore, Md. 21297-0304; (301) 625-2220 Church World Service, Philippines Earthquake Response, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, Ind. 46515 Operation USA, 7615 1/2 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046; (213) 658-8876 CARE, 8354 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048 Save the Children/Philippines Relief Effort, P.O. Box 965, Westport, Conn. 06881 Los Angeles Filipino Assn. of City Employees, c/o Mayor’s Office, 200 N. Spring St., Room 305, Los Angeles, CA 90012 Episcopal Church/The Presiding Bishop’s Fund for World Relief, Episcopal Church Center, 815 2nd Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017 Direct Relief International, P.O. Box 30820, Santa Barbara, CA 93130 World Vision, 919 W. Huntington Dr., Monrovia, CA 91016 UNICEF, 333 E. 38th St., New York, N.Y. 10016; (212) 686-5522