Back to the Routine, With Jitters

As quake-weary residents returned to work Monday to right their tipped coffee mugs, it became increasingly clear that Sunday’s 5.3-magnitude aftershock was the sort of jolt Californians have come to expect--a shaker that leaves Los Angeles jittery, but still standing.

Although it ranks as a significant temblor in its own right, the most powerful aftershock since the day of the devastating Northridge earthquake registered as little more than another spike on the thousands of personal Richter scales used to gauge a quake’s toll.

“No pun intended, but there are no earth-shaking events to report,” Los Angeles City Fire Department spokesman Bob Collis said Monday. “We’re back to our normal workload.”

In contrast to the Jan. 17 quake that left 61 dead and caused at least $13 billion in damage, Sunday’s aftershock caused only minor injuries and relatively little damage.

Part of the reason is that most buildings and utilities in Southern California are designed to withstand much stronger quakes, so “its destructive effects were pretty limited,” said Tom Tobin, executive director of the state’s Seismic Safety Commission.

Still, in dozens of pockets around Southern California, Sunday’s aftershock created personal headaches and heartbreaks.

In Sherman Oaks, a hillside home hit hard by the January quake was flattened by Sunday’s shaking and threatened to slide onto other houses below. Wrecking crews finished the demolition Monday, causing the house to cave in on itself in a crash of cracking wood and shattering glass.

By late afternoon, the house Mary Bond built 38 years ago with her since-deceased husband was flattened by city crews.

“I’m very sad to lose my house,” said the 85-year-old Bond, who stopped by briefly to witness its demise. “Now I’m homeless. Otherwise, I’m doing OK.”

Crews said demolishing the house, which was slipping down the hill, was like putting a “block underneath a rolling tire.” Demolition was done by running heavy cables throughout the house. The cables were then connected to a crane, which caused the cables to cinch up and collapse the house.

At the Van Nuys Superior Court building, the seventh floor was shut down because of concerns about asbestos contamination. The closure forced two death-penalty trials to move to other courtrooms.

During the aftershock, ceiling tiles in all four courtrooms on the top floor of the building were damaged. Because there is asbestos on beams and pipes above the false ceiling, the entire floor was closed as a precautionary measure.

Officials hope to reopen the seventh floor to normal operations on Wednesday. The Van Nuys courthouse is already overwhelmed because it has taken over cases that would have been heard in the San Fernando courthouse, which was closed by the January quake.

“It delays things, with the courthouse being crowded anyway,” said Superior Court Judge Michael R. Hoff. “But I’m sure this is going to work out as it always does.”

Delays were not worsened for morning commuters. Getting to work was no more of a hassle than it has been since the January quake knocked out stretches of the Santa Monica, Golden State, Simi Valley and Antelope Valley freeways, officials reported.

Caltrans spokesman Russ Snyder said Sunday’s shaking caused a few cosmetic cracks but did no further damage to bridges or overpasses.

Also on Monday, Caltrans announced a contract to rebuild parts of a broken interchange in Sylmar. Work began Saturday on two transition roads connecting the Antelope Valley Freeway to the Golden State. Construction is expected to be completed by June.

Work on two other transition roads is expected to begin next month.

Los Angeles city building inspector Bill King said his office saw a slight increase in the number of residents requesting inspections Monday, but added that so far there does not appear to be significant new damage.

“We are really in good shape,” he said. “We’re going to have aftershocks. We anticipate further aftershocks. I don’t think there is any reason to be panicked. People just need to be prepared.”

Indeed, said Caltech spokesman Jay Aller. Sunday’s aftershock was to be expected, Aller said, advising that there may be more in the coming months.

He added that there is a 1-in-20 chance that Sunday’s jolt, centered west-northwest of Panorama City, was a foreshock to a larger quake. But even that, he said, should be taken in the usual context.

“That’s true in general for Southern California,” he said. “The odds for this one are the same as they are in any other.”

Times staff writer Chau Lam and correspondent Thom Mrozek contributed to this report.