Quake Warning Softened; Damage Put at $92 Million

The estimate of property damage inflicted by this week’s cluster of earthquakes and aftershocks soared to $92 million Tuesday as frazzled residents of the San Bernardino County desert weathered still more hefty jolts and wondered if the ground’s trembling would ever end.

Despite a pair of aftershocks above magnitude 4.0 centered near the area hit by back-to-back temblors Sunday, some Southern Californians found comfort in the words of scientists, who substantially softened their warning that a new batch of destructive quakes might strike the region soon.

Seismologists at Caltech and the U. S. Geological Survey said there is now only a 30% chance of a magnitude 6 or greater aftershock during the next month. Previously, they said the odds were 50-50 that such an event would occur this week.

Still, scientists and state authorities repeated their warning that Southland residents should remain prepared for further tremors.

“The Earth has done everything it can to alert the people of Southern California that trouble is on the way,” said Allan Lindh, chief of the U. S. Geological Survey’s seismology branch.

“We’re still recommending that people remain extra vigilant,” added Tom Mullins, a spokesman for the state Office of Emergency Services in Sacramento.

Haunted by such warnings but longing for normalcy, many residents of the stricken areas spent Tuesday salvaging what they could from damaged homes and businesses and confronting the painstaking task of rebuilding and repairs.

Thousands of people continued to seek help at shelters, while many remained in tents set up along with barbecues and card tables in front yards. At one shelter in Yucca Mesa, volunteers said they were feeding 3,000 people each day.

“I just feel safer here,” said Connie Franz of Landers, who has slept on a cot at the Yucca Mesa Elementary School with her daughter, Colleen, since the first quake struck. “We had a pretty big one on Sunday and we’re afraid if there’s another one it could shake the whole house down.”

In the Yucca Valley and Landers areas, 27,000 people coped with the loss of a staple that ranks above all others in importance in the desert--water.

More than 15,000 residents were still without water Tuesday and struggled to scrape by with supplies trucked in by private companies and the military. Another 12,000 people were told to boil their water before using it because of fears of contamination.

Forced to conserve, residents who queued up to fill jugs from water trucks talked about unwashed dishes, unflushed toilets and the lack of showers.

“I feel dirty,” truck driver Robert Bell said as he tossed a load of clothes into a machine at the Yucca Valley coin laundry. “We’re eating a lot of canned food.”

Bell, a father of two who lives in Landers, has an additional problem--two horses that each drink 25 gallons of water per day. The animals’ thirst has kept him in almost constant motion since Sunday’s quakes, driving from his home to the water trucks parked downtown.

Although the aftershocks make him queasy, Bell seemed to take the inconvenience in stride. “It’s like camping,” he said.

After discovering new quake-related damage Tuesday, officials said it could take one to two weeks before more than 400 pipe cracks are repaired and water service is fully restored.

That was bad news for fire officials, who added to the post-quake worries by warning that more aftershocks could spark wildfires in the parched, wind-swept region. Most desert residents use propane for cooking and there is fear that burst gas lines could fuel blazes that might rage out of control given the water shortage.

The initial earthquake triggered four fires, including two in trailer parks in Yucca Valley. Downed power lines have sparked several small brush fires amid the continuing aftershocks.

“The fire danger is very high everywhere and the wind is starting to come up now,” said Scott Reiboldt, a dispatcher with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in Landers. He said tanker trucks were brought in to replace hydrant water for firefighting purposes, but warned: “If a fire starts, it could be very hard to keep it down.”

Initially, state authorities set damages from Sunday’s twin quakes at about $16.3 million. On Tuesday, the figure was revised to $91.1 million for San Bernardino County and $950,000 for Riverside County--nearly all of it in the city of San Jacinto.

In San Bernardino County, officials recorded $64.5 million in damage to businesses and homes and $26.6 million to public buildings and roadways. In all, 77 homes were destroyed and 4,446 damaged. Authorities said 10 businesses were destroyed and 166 sustained damage.

The week’s quakes and aftershocks also killed a child and injured about 385 people. Joseph Bishop of Newburyport, Mass., 3 1/2, was killed when he was crushed by falling fireplace bricks at a home he was visiting in Yucca Valley.

Mary Ann and Harry Hudson were among 15 families in Landers whose houses were rendered uninhabitable by the quake. The Hudsons’ hilltop house was a total loss--sliced in two by a deep crack through the living room and heaved off its foundation when the hillside began to quiver like gelatin Sunday. Other fissures split the driveway, and a three-foot shift in the earth was visible in the yard.

“We’ll just have to tear it down and see what happens,” Hudson said as she surveyed the damage. “I’m not even sure we can sell the property.”

Many who lost their homes found financial help from the government in short supply. Gov. Pete Wilson proclaimed an emergency in San Bernardino and Riverside counties shortly after Sunday’s quakes, but that move provides funds only for damage to public property. It would take a presidential disaster declaration to free up low-interest loans and grants for residents.

“I think the government should find us a home,” said Tim Hoskinds, who camped out with his two children--one of them a toddler afflicted with cerebral palsy--beside his cracked apartment building in Yucca Valley Tuesday. “This place is unlivable. I’ve got a handicapped kid and she can’t live in a shelter. I’m going to have to put all my life savings into a motel.”

At a briefing for reporters Tuesday morning, seismologists from Caltech and the Geological Survey said that in the first 53 hours after the twin earthquakes Sunday, there had been one aftershock of magnitude 6.0 or higher, seven in the 5.0 range and 53 in the 4.0 range.

Later Tuesday, two more sizable aftershocks--a magnitude 4.8 at 2:22 p.m. and a 4.2 at 2:49 p.m.--struck in the Big Bear zone and were felt across Southern California.

Despite the Earth’s continuing spasms, seismologist Lucile M. Jones of the U.S. Geological Survey said the frequency of the aftershocks has been diminishing in a normal pattern consistent with earthquakes in California.

That, she said, is why the scientists revised their prediction that a magnitude 6.0 aftershock would strike later this week.

Also Tuesday, scientists revealed that a magnitude 4.4 aftershock Monday morning near Yucaipa appears to have been directly on the San Andreas Fault. Its location on that infamous fault is of concern, Jones said Tuesday, because it raises the odds that the so-called Big One may occur in the next five to 10 years.

While their colleagues studied seismographs in Pasadena laboratories, scores of other geologists swarmed the desert sands near the quakes’ epicenters lured by what many described as the most intriguing temblors in decades. Armed with video cameras and measuring devices, the scientists spent hours documenting the gaping fissures and other oddities created by the gyrating ground.

Geologists said the maximum horizontal displacement along the 44-mile rupture caused by the Landers Quake is nearly 22 feet--greater than that recorded after the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906.

Times staff writer Kenneth Reich contributed to this story.

The Quake Aftermath

Here are some key facts related to Tuesday’s aftershocks:

The aftershocks: Several aftershocks measured between magnitudes 3.6 to 4.8. More than 1,000 aftershocks have followed Sunday’s quakes--including one as strong as 6.0, seven in the 5 range and 53 in the 4 range.

The toll: One death, a 3 1/2-year-old. More than 350 injured, 25 hurt seriously.

The damage: Estimated property damage in San Bernardino County, $91.1 million; Riverside County, $950,000. More than 400 cracks have been counted in water pipes in the desert.

The call for help: About 27,000 people in the Yucca Valley and Landers areas continued to have no water service or had contaminated water. Thousands are being fed at shelters.

The warning: Seismologists said there is a 30% chance of a 6.0 or greater aftershock during the next month.

Damage Toll

Government officials on Tuesday released a revised tally of quake and aftershock damages:

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY

Homes:

77 destroyed

4,446 damaged

$47.5 million

Businesses:

10 destroyed

166 damaged

$17.0 million

Public sector:

Damage to water facilities, school and sewer districts, hospitals and government facilities:

$26.6 million

Total county damage:

$91.1 million

RIVERSIDE COUNTY

City of San Jacinto:

$813,000 worth of losses

Total county damage:

$950,000

SOURCE: State Office of Emergency Services, San Bernardino County