LOS ANGELES : FEMA Begins Closing Quake Assistance Centers

The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday began shutting down its one-stop assistance centers for quake victims, a day short of today’s one-month anniversary of the magnitude 6.8 temblor that forced hundreds of thousands of people to seek help.

By Wednesday, the service centers had distributed nearly $230 million in grants and loans and processed more than 340,000 applications--including 87,000 from those who walked into the centers, which were opened three days after the quake to provide victims one place at which to fill out applications to federal, state and local agencies for aid.

The first two centers to close were at the Glendale Civic Center Auditorium and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley on Wednesday. Centers in Santa Monica, Santa Clarita and Newhall will close Friday.

The center at Calabasas High School will close Saturday, when FEMA begins phasing in the second part of its disaster assistance program by opening Earthquake Service Centers at 1901 S. Bundy in Santa Monica and 28460 Avenue Stanford in Valencia.

While the Disaster Assistance Centers helped victims fill out applications for aid, the Earthquake Service Centers will provide follow-up assistance as applications are processed. Rita Kepner, a FEMA spokeswoman, said that eventually all of the Disaster Assistance Centers will be replaced by 10 new Earthquake Service Centers.