Residents Take Stock of Earthquakes' Minor Effects : Temblors: Some shrug off the experience, but others buy emergency provisions to prepare for the next event. Thousands of homes lose power.

By PSYCHE PASCUAL and TINA DAUNT

June 29, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITERS

The strongest quake to rock Southern California in 40 years jolted some Ventura County residents into a panic Sunday while barely nudging others from their weekend routines.

The pre-dawn temblor and a second potent quake pushed some jittery residents out of their homes in quest of emergency provisions and spurred rattled merchants to inspect buildings for damage.

But as the dust settled on the desert and mountain communities east of Los Angeles where the quakes were centered, some county residents ignored Mother Nature’s shakeup to head for the beach or the movies.

The first temblor, magnitude 7.4, was centered six miles north of the San Bernardino County community of Yucca Valley and hit just before 4:58 a.m. A 6.5-magnitude quake rolled through Big Bear about 8:05 a.m.

In Simi Valley, a 33-year-old clerk suffered a broken arm after slipping on a bottle of cooking oil that had fallen from the shelf of a Vons supermarket, said a nursing supervisor at Simi Valley Adventist Hospital. No other details were available.

Elsewhere in the county, panicky residents abandoned leisurely Sunday morning activities to flock to neighborhood supermarkets and hardware stores. Some stores reported selling dozens of batteries and as many as 50 flashlights in a frenzied morning rush.

Robert Nolan, 21, combed through the hardware section of a Home Depot store in Oxnard for batteries to fit his flashlights. He said all the shaking has given him second thoughts about living in California.

“I know I sound like a wimp,” said Nolan, who left Indiana just three weeks ago to take a job in an Oxnard development company. “But I’m beginning to think that this might not be the best place to live.”

A scientist with the U. S. Geological Survey in Pasadena said it is unlikely that Ventura County will be hit with a major quake in the immediate future. Most of the activity occurred near the San Andreas Fault, which skirts the county.

“Ventura County is far enough away from the activity so that you need not be too concerned,” said seismologist Lisa Wald, who is with the USGS at Caltech.

But regionwide, the Office of Emergency Services has advised Southern California residents that there is at least a 50-50 chance of additional damaging earthquakes.

Some folks ignored warnings by state officials to stay off the roads. At the Century Theatres on Johnson Drive in Ventura, it was business as usual as moviegoers packed a matinee showing of “Batman Returns.”

“We didn’t even know we had an earthquake,” said Carrie Penix of Newbury Park, who was waiting with her husband to see the movie. “I guess we’re used to it.”

Margaret Fujii, who was on her way to see “Alien 3,” said: “We don’t have much control over it anyway. Might as well go see a movie.”

The beaches also were packed. “It was a beautiful, busy day,” said Kirk Sturm, a lifeguard at San Buenaventura State Beach. “I don’t think people cared about the earthquakes. It wasn’t a factor.”

County emergency workers, however, were prepared for the possibility of another quake, fire dispatcher Annie Ironside said. Soon after the first temblor hit, the county’s 32 fire crews were ordered to move firetrucks outside their firehouses.

The county’s emergency 911 line was flooded with more than a hundred calls after the quakes, including 50 reports of gas leaks, downed power lines and burglar alarms, officials said. None of the incidents was serious.

Southern California Edison crews scrambled to restore power to about 21,000 Ventura County residents whose homes lost electricity soon after the early quake hit, spokesman Tony Wilson said.

No major circuits were knocked out, but neighborhoods in El Rio and Santa Paula lost power about 5 a.m., Wilson said. Power was restored about 1 1/2 hours later.

Amtrak passengers also were inconvenienced by the quakes, which resulted in delays of up to several hours throughout the day.

Although 429 buildings in eight cities in the county are rated unsafe by state standards, there were no reports of damage to structures.

“We went through it OK,” said Tom Wood, landlord of 10 buildings around the Main Street area of downtown Ventura. “I don’t even think we had any broken gas lines.”

Reba Collins, who works at the Seniors Craft Shoppe on Main Street, said, “Nothing fell off the walls here. It was amazing.”

Sheriff’s Lt. Gary Backman said workers in the county government building and jail on Victoria Avenue felt the jolts of both quakes but reported no damage. Backman said the quake sloshed water out of the swimming pool at his home in Santa Paula.

“It came across like a tidal wave. The pool went down around four inches and the entire back yard was wet,” he said. “It was a pretty good shake.”

The quakes apparently triggered a reaction among several expectant mothers.

Ventura County Medical Center’s obstetrics ward had more than its usual share of births, delivery room nurse Chris Davis said. Nurses attributed the activity to the earthquake.

Soon after the first quake, “we had quite a few that ruptured their water,” Davis said. “They went into labor.”

By noon, the hospital had delivered nine babies.

“It’s a madhouse,” she said. “The earth is shaking, their water’s breaking and the baby wants to come.”

Expectant mother Oriana Carrasco said she was eight days overdue with her third child when the quake hit. The 30-year-old mother was standing in the bathroom of her Port Hueneme home when the floor began to tremble beneath her feet.

“I got really scared. I thought the house was going to fall down,” she said in Spanish from her hospital bed at Ventura County Medical Center. Then, she said, “I began to feel contractions. An hour later we had to go to the hospital.”

After three hours of labor, Carrasco delivered a healthy 10-pound, 9-ounce boy. She has still not decided on a name for her child, but several hospital workers had suggestions.

“A man here said I should name my baby ‘Little Earthquake,’ ” she said.

Peter and Tobi VanDolah of Ventura decided to skip church Sunday morning to stock up on extra water and food. Shortly after 10 a.m., the couple headed to the Vons store on Main Street with their 1-year-old daughter in tow.

“We just want to cover our bases,” Peter VanDolah said. “We’ve said we were going to get things together for an earthquake for a long time. After the second earthquake, we decided to shine on church and get food.”

Tobi VanDolah added: “We see this as a warning. They say we have a 50% chance of having a major earthquake soon. What else are we going to do?”

In Ojai, Jennifer Arellanes said she rushed to the Bayless Market to buy 12 one-gallon containers of water.

“It was the second jolt that made me get out there and say, ‘Go get water,’ ” said Arellanes, who works as a clerk at the Ojai Valley Surplus store. “I wanted to make sure I had enough around.”

MAIN STORY: A1

Earthquake Preparedness Kits

Experts encourage residents to prepare emergency kits for earthquakes. Here are the basics for two kits--one for the car and one for the home.

For the car:

* First-aid kit (with bandages, gauze, tape, antiseptic cream and handbook)

* Water (two quarts)

* Personal items: toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, soap, towel, razor and any needed prescriptions

* Pocket knife and bottle opener

* Leather gloves

* Matches

* Flashlight (with extra batteries and bulb)

* Pocket radio (with extra batteries)