EARTHQUAKE: THE LONG ROAD BACK : Destruction Hopscotches Throughout County : Disaster: Many areas that are not making headlines are hard-hit too. At least 54 cities have damage. Estimates are expected to rise.

By NANCY HILL-HOLTZMAN

Feb. 6, 1994 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Although attention has been riveted on the most intensely damaged areas, the Jan. 17 earthquake reached into communities across the region, cutting a broad swath of destruction through at least 54 of Los Angeles County’s 88 cities, a Times survey has found.

Damage reports range from two collapsing chimneys in La Canada Flintridge to a crumpling shopping center garage bridge in Hawthorne, from two water heaters jiggling in Cudahy to a section of a house tumbling down a hill in Pacific Palisades.

Even in the South Bay, which at first seemed virtually unscathed, a landmark marina was damaged. King Harbor Marina in Redondo Beach suffered $2.5-million in damage when subsoil collapsed.

It was far from the only cultural landmark to suffer. Glendale’s recently restored Alex Theater, distinguished by its Art Deco design and 100-foot tower, sustained $30,000 in damage, mostly cracked and fallen plaster. The historic Casa Adobe de San Rafael in Glendale was badly damaged, as was the Sand and Sea Club on Santa Monica Beach.

The quake also broke $25,000 worth of windows at Hollywood Park in Inglewood.

Governmental agencies and the insurance industry are trying to get a fix on the breadth of the damage but have not completed the reviews.

A preliminary estimate last week put Los Angeles County’s dollar loss at $3.6 billion, suggesting that the Northridge quake will be among the costliest disasters in U.S. history.

And all estimates are expected to rise: Though the wake-up call from hell took just 30 seconds to wreak its havoc on the region, toting up the damage is a painstaking process.

It means placing a dollar value on mortar and brick, while coming to terms with the incalculable loss of lives and landmarks, and with the fickle nature of fault lines.

The earthquake’s caprice meant that Santa Monica got socked with $200 million in damage and 4,000 displaced residents, while Glendora escaped unscathed.

“Whew!” said Glendora Mayor Bob Kuhn, after finding his domain intact. “You just know that someday it will be your turn.”

Besides Santa Monica, other Los Angeles County cities that got their turn on Jan. 17 include Santa Clarita ($219 million), Calabasas ($43 million), Burbank ($27.9 million) and Glendale ($26.1 million).

In Ventura County, Simi Valley ($310 million) and Fillmore ($250 million) also took it on the chin.

“Since the flood of 1928, this is the most devastating calamity this community has had to experience,” said Fillmore City Manager Roy Payne.

Part of the problem for Fillmore and other smaller cities was getting attention amid the life-and-death drama being played out in the San Fernando Valley, where the quake was centered. Some were able to deliver their message shortly after the quake at a meeting with President Clinton. Santa Monica Mayor Judy Abdo was there, and said she kept pointing frantically at herself until Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan called on her to report the seaside community’s devastating losses.

Until then, Abdo said, Santa Monica residents were asking: “What about us?”

“Still, when people come in here they say: ‘I’m shocked at what I see,’ ” Abdo said.

Among the city’s losses were its largest employer, St. John’s Hospital, which sustained $25 million in damage. St. Monica’s Catholic Church and the Sea Castle apartments at the beach were also badly damaged.

Glendale is still trying to attract attention to the extent of its losses. Glendale’s Casa Adobe de San Rafael sustained $300,000 in damage and about 600 people were displaced.

“We have not fared that well,” said Glendale Mayor Larry Zarian. “We keep on hearing that the Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley (areas) have been hit hard, but I believe we have been hit hard too.”

Other areas within the Los Angeles city limits--Hollywood and South-Central Los Angeles, for example--have also complained that they are being swallowed up in the damage estimate for Los Angeles as a whole.

In other communities, such as Huntington Park and Ventura County’s unincorporated areas, officials report a delayed reaction.

“At first blush we looked around and said: ‘We came through this pretty well.’ But as the hours and days passed, we discovered there is more damage than we first thought,” said Ventura County Supervisor Vicky Howard.

Huntington Park City Hall office manager Barbara Grimm said the city just posted its first notices to vacate two damaged apartment buildings.

“What we’re finding is (that) people are slow to respond . . . (A savings bank) waited for about a week and watched the light fixture fall a little every day until it fell,” Grimm said.

Whether they are digging out of the rubble or counting their blessings, officials throughout the region are all talking about retrofitting their buildings.

Sabino M. Cici, vice mayor of San Gabriel, has some advice on that point.

“Nothing is earthquake-proof,” said Sabino, while mulling over the damage to the city’s recently retrofitted mission and Civic Center. “All you can do is make sure nothing falls on someone’s head.”

Contributing to this report were Times staff writers Mathis Chazanov, Ken Ellingwood, Jill Gottesman, Ted Johnson, Daryl Kelley, Scott Sandell and Doug Smith, and correspondents Emily Adams, Douglas Alger, James Benning, Ed Bond, Scott Glover, Sandra Hernandez, Tommy Li, Geoffrey Mohan, Psyche Pascual, Kurt Pitzer, Mack Polhemus and John Pope.

Worst-Hit Cities

The five worst hit cities in L.A. and Ventura counties:

* 1) Los Angeles

Population: 3.5 million.

Damage estimate: $1.8 billion

* 2) Simi Valley

Population: 100,000

Damage estimate: $310 million

* 3) Fillmore

Population: 12,000

Damage estimate: $250 million

* 4) Santa Clarita