Canceling Events Was Considered in Quakes

State, county and city officials discussed canceling the day’s Dodger game and the Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade in West Hollywood in the hours after the June 28 Landers and Big Bear earthquakes, the head of the state Office of Emergency Services said Monday.

The discussions grew from concern expressed by seismologists that damaging aftershocks could rattle the Southern California region, but the decisions to cancel were left to the discretion of the event organizers. The game and parade were held without incident.

Richard Andrews, the state official, said that only the city of Los Angeles could have directed that the Dodger game be canceled, and only the county had the authority to order the parade canceled. The state role, he said, was to urge that they consider doing so.

Three days after the earthquakes, Mayor Tom Bradley issued an internal memorandum to the heads of all city departments advising them to go to a “heightened state of readiness” in case a bigger earthquake struck Southern California.

The original state advisory issued at 9:15 a.m. June 28 contained this unprecedented tough warning to the public:

“OES is advising all residents or travelers in Southern California to curtail nonessential activity and to the extent possible stay off the freeway system.”

But Andrews said Monday that as the morning of June 28 wore on, state officials concluded that the situation in Los Angeles County was not as serious as they had been led to believe.

He said that after the second quake, centered at Big Bear, there were false reports of cracks in structures on Interstate 605 and of falling cement along Interstate 5.

Andrews said that as a result he ordered the inclusion of the freeway warning. A few hours later, when inspections revealed no such damage and uncertainty about the status of the freeways had been cleared, he said that part of the advisory was lifted.

Aftershocks of the Landers earthquake continued Monday. The strongest, magnitude 3.8, hit near Barstow.

Farther north, in an area where scientists say the temblors are not aftershocks but part of a surge of seismic activity “sympathetic” to the Landers quake, there were magnitude 4.0 and 3.3 shocks centered in the Owens Valley, 45 miles northwest of Ridgecrest.