South Bay Quake Damage

INJURIES

At least 188 people were treated at South Bay hospitals for injuries related to the quake, according to tallies Monday from 11 hospitals. Los Angeles County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center near Torrance treated 43 patients, the most of any hospital in the area.

Most patients suffered relatively minor injuries, such as fractures or lacerations.

Two men suffered fatal heart attacks and two women were found dead in their homes after the quake.

One man died at 8:50 a.m. Jan. 17 at Memorial Hospital of Gardena, where officials declined to release his name but said his death is not being classified as quake-related.

The county coroner’s office had not determined Wednesday whether the earthquake was the cause of the second death, that of Richard Whitfield, a 56-year-old Inglewood man, at 5:42 a.m. Jan. 17 at Centinela Hospital Medical Center.

Frances Melton, 80, of Inglewood was found dead in her home at 9:22 a.m. Jan. 17. Her death is considered quake-related, said Scott Carrier, a spokesman for the County Coroner’s Office.

Betty O’Connor, 70, was pronounced dead at her home in Torrance shortly after the quake at 5:19 a.m., Carrier said. O’Connor had a heart condition, but the death is listed as quake-related, he said.

DAMAGES

Avalon--Negligible damage.

Carson--Officials said the city suffered no significant damage.

El Segundo--Negligible damage. Broken water main at Mariposa Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard.

Gardena--About 20 calls from residents reporting cosmetic cracks and four or five apartment buildings with minor structural damage. One public building cracked. The canopy over a city gas station that services buses had cosmetic damage. One chimney damaged.

Hawthorne--City-owned parking structure at the Hawthorne Plaza shopping center sustained $420,000 in damage when a bridge collapsed onto a ramp, damaging a second bridge and closing 50 parking spaces. The collapsed bridge, which was damaged in the 1987 Whittier earthquake, had been closed since 1988.

Elsewhere, minor damage reported on eight homes, five apartment complexes, five commercial buildings and two churches.

Hermosa Beach--About $30,000 in earthquake damage, mostly from downed chimneys and cracked plaster in homes and apartment buildings. A parapet on a Pier Avenue building collapsed, causing $5,000 in damage, and the Bijou Twin Theatres on Hermosa Avenue sustained $2,000 in damage, officials said.

Inglewood--A 160-year-old historic adobe building was damaged and has been temporarily closed to the public. The Centinela Adobe, built in 1833 by a Spanish land-grant pioneer, suffered cracked walls and damage to two chimneys.

Lawndale--One home with superficial cracks along the foundation. Damage less than $1,000.

Manhattan Beach--City officials report about $3.5 million in damage to private buildings and public facilities. More than 250 chimneys cracked or fell, and two parking structures were damaged. A bank and a private residence were closed due to structural damage. The fire station next to City Hall suffered foundation cracks and is being monitored. Two community centers had some facade damage requiring shoring. There was one injury in a fire caused by a broken light fixture falling onto a couch.

Palos Verdes Estates--Four-inch break in high-pressure gas main near the Torrance border caused $8,800 in damage. Building damage less than $20,000.

Rancho Palos Verdes--Minimal cosmetic damage to residences. A 20-foot section of a six-foot high retaining wall collapsed.

Redondo Beach--At least $2.5 million damage in King Harbor Marina, where a parking lot and locker rooms were badly damaged when subsoil collapsed. Elsewhere, extensive cosmetic damage to walls and about half a dozen chimneys damaged or destroyed.

Rolling Hills--Damage estimate at less than $200.

Rolling Hills Estates--Less than $500 in damage.

Torrance--Officials received 40 calls from residents whose homes sustained minor damage. Some broken chimneys and cracked windows.