Residents Get Jolting Reminder to Brace Homes for Earthquakes : Preparedness: Calls stream into Manhattan Beach about a program to assess the quake safety of houses. In other cities, the temblor jangles nerves but does little damage.

Although it seemed to rattle more nerves than dishes in the South Bay, the Wednesday night earthquake that shook Southern California served as a wake-up call for area residents to brace themselves--and their homes--for the Big One.

In Manhattan Beach, city Building Director Mohammed Ganaba said his office received more calls in four hours Thursday morning than it did in all of last week about a new earthquake inspection program being offered to homeowners.

In Hawthorne, Deborah Griffin of Western Surplus said the camping equipment store was preparing for the rush on flashlights, first-aid kits and other emergency provisions that are normally at a premium after a temblor.

And throughout the South Bay, residents and merchants were once again reminded to prepare for earthquakes even stronger than the magnitude 6.1 quake that was centered just east of Desert Hot Springs.

Nowhere was that reminder more apparent Thursday than in Manhattan Beach, where residents began calling early Thursday morning about a free residential inspection program that hardly drew notice before Wednesday’s quake.

“This earthquake has (reminded) people that maybe they should go out and do something about their lives and their homes,” said Ganaba, who reported that about 35 homeowners called City Hall Thursday morning about the free inspection program. All last week, just 27 calls came in.

Although the city, like others in the South Bay, did not report any damage or injuries from the temblor, Ganaba said its residents were suddenly interested in the one-hour inspections to assess the earthquake-safety of their homes. And although not in a panic, Ganaba said, the callers made it clear they wanted their homes reviewed “as soon as possible.”

The sudden interest in the program, Ganaba added, made it likely that the city will expand the program to include more than the 900 homes originally expected to be inspected over the next four months. “My suspicion is that it will be continued,” he said.

Like Southern California in general, the impact of the quake varied widely throughout the South Bay and, sometimes, even within local cities.

In San Pedro, for example, Los Angeles Police Detective Larry Kallestad said the force of the temblor was quickly apparent to officers at the Harbor Division station.

“I was sitting at a secretary’s desk and started feeling a rolling motion,” Kallestad said. “I looked around at first and didn’t see anyone else reacting, so I thought there must be something wrong with my chair.”

Then, moments later, Kallestad said, the earthquake’s rumble drew the attention of others at the station. Suddenly, he said, “Everybody felt it and said, ‘What’s this?’ ”

In nearby Palos Verdes Estates, meanwhile, the quake did not appear to stir many residents.

“We had very few calls. Hardly anybody felt it up here,” Police Sgt. Patrick Hite said.

So subtle was the quake’s rumblings in some areas, in fact, that Palos Verdes Estates Police said one resident mistook the Earth’s movement for a prowler on his roof. The 9:52 p.m. call to police, who found no prowler, occurred just as the quake hit, police said.

Similarly, Torrance police said the temblor prompted few calls to the station. “We had some calls from residents wondering just what had happened. But no reports of injuries or property damage,” Lt. Jim Herren said.

Luanne Ditto, a secretary in the city’s Building Department, said the quake was so mild that she did not know it had occurred until she heard the news on television. “I didn’t feel any of it and when (the news report) came on TV, I thought to myself, ‘What are they talking about?,’ ” said Ditto, a South Torrance resident for 15 years.

If the quake was not even noticed in some inland communities of the South Bay, it was along several coastal cities.

In Redondo Beach, for example, the earthquake was clearly felt at Aviation Auditorium, where the temblor shook the set of the South Bay Civic Light Opera’s performance of “Mame.” Although the cast and most of the audience braved the temblor, about a dozen patrons fled for the exits.

“I thought someone was shaking my seat and I turned around all annoyed,” one woman in the audience. “But no one was there.”

A check of several South Bay stores that specialize in camping equipment and emergency provisions found that the earthquake had done little Thursday morning to bring in more customers.

But give it time, Western Surplus’ Griffin said.

“I haven’t noticed any difference yet” in the number of customers, Griffin said Thursday morning. “But it’s too early in the day.”

If past quakes are any indication, Griffin said, she expects business to pick up soon. “After a quake, they start buying a lot of earthquake kits, water containers, first-aid kits. . . . I expect that would happen again,” she said.

“But it never happens in the daytime unless a quake occurs on the weekend. Even if people are panicked about buying, they still have to work on the weekdays.”

Times staff writer Marc Lacey contributed to this report.