EARTHQUAKE / THE LONG ROAD BACK : Requests for Aid Likely to Establish New Record : Relief: As more aftershocks continue to hit, officials say the number of victims seeking assistance will top the total from Hurricane Hugo.

As still more aftershocks rolled through Los Angeles, state emergency services chief Richard Andrews said during a San Fernando Valley tour Sunday that the number of earthquake victims requesting government aid will soon surpass 304,000, breaking the record set following Hurricane Hugo.

Meanwhile, the last inhabitants of the San Fernando Valley’s now-closed tent shelters for earthquake victims spent their first full day indoors as the fiercest rainstorm of the winter approached.

The dual aftershocks--a 4.1-magnitude jolt at 5:19 a.m. and another of 3.6 magnitude two minutes later--were the largest of more than 100 mostly unnoticed ones to shake the region in the 24 hours ending Sunday evening. Both were centered two miles east of Granada Hills, part of a diminishing aftershock pattern that experts say will continue for years.

It was an unsettling welcome for the last handful of residents who had been staying outside the Church on the Way in Van Nuys, the valley’s last formal earthquake tent shelter. On Saturday, anticipating the storm expected to dump one to two inches of rain, American Red Cross officials closed the sole tent there and urged residents to relocate.

Andrews spent the morning in the Valley, touring one disaster assistance center at the Winnetka Recreation Center and a Red Cross shelter in Granada Hills High School.

Andrews said disaster relief applications from the Northridge quake were expected to surpass the prior record of about 304,000 from Hurricane Hugo by Sunday or today. “Having this concentrated in portions of two counties is just remarkable,” the OES director said, comparing the quake’s relatively concentrated impact to the wide swath of destruction cut by Hugo.

When the tally is complete, Andrews estimated the total number of relief applications stemming from the Jan. 17 quake could hit 350,000 to 400,000. At the Winnetka center, which has accepted about 6,200 applications, new clients still are arriving at a rate of about 200 daily, down from nearly 800 a day immediately after the quake, said spokesman Bob Crosby.

Sunday’s aftershocks were the latest of more than 3,600 to hit the region since the original 6.6-magnitude Northridge quake. Four of the prior aftershocks were magnitude 5 or greater, and Sunday morning’s 4.1-magnitude shaker was the 44th thus far with a magnitude of 4 or greater, a Caltech spokesman said.

“It’s perfectly normal, and these can be expected to continue for years,” the spokesman said. “There will be more 3s, 4s and there might be even some more 5s.” For example, seismologists have recorded more than 60,000 aftershocks from the Landers and Big Bear earthquakes of 1992.

Officials reported no additional major damage from the latest aftershocks. But they voiced concern that heavy rains could further damage buildings with leaks, drive more residents into shelters, and prompt flash-flooding and mudslides in areas ravaged by the quake and last year’s fires.

“It’s pretty big, a lot bigger than the last one,” said meteorologist Dean Jones of WeatherData Inc. in Wichita, Kan., of the expected storm.

To prepare, Los Angeles County firefighters boosted the number of crews on duty and readied sand-filled dump trucks for emergency use for sandbagging in mudslide-prone areas. Also, the Fire Department’s swift-water rescue team was placed on alert.

It was the coming storm that prompted the American Red Cross on Saturday to close the last two of what had been up to 14 formal tent shelters, said spokeswoman Peggy Hinz. Only a few people had remained in the single tent at the Van Nuys church, but about 100 were moved from the two tents at Le Conte Junior High School in Hollywood, Hinz said.

Originally, Red Cross officials had erected the large tents outside some of their indoor shelters because many residents came seeking aid who were reluctant to stay indoors in the wake of the earthquake. Hinz said there never was a shortage of space indoors at the Red Cross’ shelters.

Elsewhere in Southern California, though, officials conceded that many people remain in their own tents, either outside damaged homes or at schools and parks. To reach them, disaster assistance workers have been venturing into hard-hit neighborhoods, encouraging residents to seek help at government assistance centers.

Andrews, the state emergency head, said the 20 fixed-site and 13 mobile disaster assistance centers operating in Los Angeles and Ventura counties probably will remain open for several more weeks. A 21st fixed-site assistance center is due to open Tuesday at the Toberman Recreation Center in the Pico-Union area southwest of Downtown Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, federal and state officials gave the following quake update:

* Around Southern California, nearly 3,000 people remained in 23 shelters, 22 operated by the American Red Cross and one by the Salvation Army.

* 286,268 victims have been registered for state and federal assistance, either at disaster application centers or by a toll-free telephone number, (800) 462-9021.

* 31,258 temporary housing checks, totaling $97.8 million, have been issued to help victims with rent and other housing needs.

* 890 home and commercial loans, valued at $28.6 million, have been approved by the U. S. Small Business Administration.

The Red Cross said it has housed 23,872 people at 47 shelters that have been open at various times since the earthquake. The Red Cross also has served more than a million meals from shelters and 127 mobile food vans. The agency said it has spent more than $3.6 million and expects to spend a total of $36 million.