Getting Beyond the Shock and Destruction of Jan. 17, 1994 : Full recovery from something as powerful and pervasive as a major earthquake is never easy, and never quick

In the annals of U.S. seismic activity, there had never been anything like the Northridge earthquake. The nightmare that occurred one year ago this week was the most destructive ever to strike a major American urban area.

The violent shaking that swept across Southern California at 4:31 a.m. Jan. 17, 1994, and the initial wave of aftershocks directly victimized at least 667,000 people--more than three times the number in the nation’s next-largest disaster, Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Sixty-one were killed and 8,700 were injured in the first jolts. In all, 12,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed, 16,000 homes and apartments were made uninhabitable, 40,000 people were left without food or shelter and 40 miles of roads and freeways became impassable. Ultimately, public agencies had to provide aid for a population larger than Denver’s.

Among the areas on which the blow fell hardest were the San Fernando Valley, the Santa Clarita Valley, the Westside, Ventura County, Compton, Inglewood and Long Beach, as today’s special section “Still Shaken” vividly recounts. The fears that linger a year later are not lessened by the recent chilling forecast that more and bigger quakes are in this region’s future.

DISASTER SYNDROME: New disasters of course will slowly shrink the Northridge quake in terms of the attention paid to it by the nation and by federal aid officials. Recovery plans, and the money to fund them, will shift to new priorities.

Speaking of new disasters, who could have predicted that the Northridge earthquake’s first anniversary would have a prelude that took the form of flooding and mudslides and that assumed the moniker the Great Storm of 1995? Again, federal, state and local disaster areas are declared. Again, emergency aid must be rushed in. This month’s storms ought to lend urgency to the need to determine, quickly and accurately, all that remains to be done to recover from last year’s earthquake.

A major advantage is that all the key players agree more funding will be needed. For starters, James Lee Witt, the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said last week that President Clinton will ask the Congress for more earthquake recovery funding when he submits his national budget next month.

TICKING CLOCK: It’s also encouraging that there is no shortfall yet. Federal officials have spent or have obligated just $7.5 billion of the $11.05 billion set aside by the Clinton Administration. And of the federal money devoted to the repair and restoration of public facilities ranging from sewer lines to hospital buildings, about $1.8 billion remains.

On the negative side, there isn’t much time remaining before the submission of the federal budget in February and there still appear to be significant differences between federal officials such as Witt and state and local officials such as Richard Andrews, director of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. Witt and Andrews don’t agree on how much money can be persuasively requested for such big-ticket items as UCLA’s medical complex and the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

Clearly, in the aftermath of this disaster and others the federal government and Congress must look out for the welfare of taxpayers nationwide. Officials at the federal level have a vested interest in ensuring that tax dollars intended for repairs do not instead buy things that local officials always wanted but couldn’t justify to local taxpayers. At the same time, however, it is understandable that city, county and state officials are leery of any aid that repairs a public building but leaves it vulnerable to the same level of damage in the next big temblor.

At issue are fiendishly complex federal requirements related to infrastructure rehabilitation and upgrading to building codes and what the state sees as legitimate new code standards. The Clinton Administration and state and local officials are hardly displaying a united front at this point, and that bodes ill for a presentation to a new Congress eager to show that it is tightfisted.

FEDERAL COMMITMENT: It must be acknowledged that the Clinton Administration and its main relief agencies have displayed a remarkable commitment to helping Southern California. There is every indication they will attempt to complete the task of recovery. The federal aid package is already the largest ever provided in a natural disaster, and it has been put to quick use. A dozen segments of five freeways were back in service on schedule or ahead of schedule. The repair estimate for the Santa Monica Freeway was six months; traffic was flowing again in just 64 days.

HOVERING GHOST TOWNS: Sixteen ghost towns resulted from the earthquake. These are pockets of such intense damage that entire blocks had to be vacated, leaving them vulnerable to squatters, vandals, drug traffickers and prostitutes. They figured to be among the quake’s most stubborn legacies, but prompt action may prevent the sort of urban cancers that have lasted since the Bay Area’s 1989 earthquake. Here, federal and city loans and private insurance will cover about 80% of the cost of rebuilding the ghost towns.

Of course, many problems remain in the vast scope of economic ruin caused by the 1994 quake. While the 75% approval rate for requests for FEMA aid was comparable to that in most natural disasters, the Small Business Administration loan rate clearly wasn’t. Just 55% of the loan applications to the SBA have been approved. That’s lower than in many previous disasters, including the 74% figure after the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Still, the SBA approved 115,000 loans for more than $3.7 billion, and overall there has been praise for the combined federal effort.

“There was tremendous damage and there is a lot more that needs to be done,” said Sid Thompson, the Los Angeles Unified School District’s superintendent. “The one silver lining was FEMA.”

Andrews, the state emergency services official, said disagreements between state and federal officials over how much more aid is needed “shouldn’t overshadow what has been accomplished,” adding that Washington has been “very good” in speeding money to California.

Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan was more succinct in applauding the federal government’s earthquake response: “Incredible.”

Much work lies ahead to ensure recovery. Washington must again be center stage, but crucial action will also have to occur much closer to home.

SACRAMENTO QUESTION: What about the state’s 10% share of costs for rebuilding public structures and other restoration efforts? Andrews says that this can be met by the state on a basis of fiscal year by fiscal year, at a rate of $100 million to $120 million annually. Maybe so, but Gov. Pete Wilson is already expecting a lot in budgetary matters, including a 15% income tax cut over the next three years for corporations and individuals. He also wants to continue to pay off the state’s debt and to maintain funding for K-12 education. And all of this is predicated on a rosy forecast that calls for 5.9% state economic growth in each of the next five years. We wonder how reasonable those lofty expectations are, particularly when California has suffered a new natural disaster, one that is sure to damage the state’s agricultural economy, at least in the short term.

In addition, there is the matter of the state’s home insurance crisis. Charles W. Quackenbush, the state’s new insurance commissioner, can only exacerbate the problem with his call for repeal of the law that requires insurers to offer earthquake coverage to homeowners. At the minimum, it is terribly premature. Quackenbush also said that he plans to drop former Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi’s proposal to use the California Fair Plan to offer stand-alone earthquake insurance. The state Legislature already ducked its responsibilities in these matters by ending its last session without dealing with the evolving insurance crisis, save for the passage of a single bill that fails to address current needs. Where is leadership to be found?

The best solution would, and should, come from Washington in the form of a national insurance fund for disasters such as the Northridge quake. The California congressional delegation now has ample reason to press for such a national fund, but state measures are needed in the interim if prospective home buyers are to obtain the insurance they need to close their deals.

GRATITUDE, AND NEEDS: There has been an unprecedented effort to help the region since Jan. 17, 1994. But Southern California’s gratitude must be tempered by a realization of unmet needs. In numbers of dollars, these needs range from enormous to relatively small. Item: Cal State Northridge, where damage estimates have soared into the hundreds of millions, expects to be using temporary classrooms through 1998. Item: FEMA funds will cover only half the $9.2-million cost of reconstructing the Santa Monica West Mental Health Center. Item: The Simi Valley schools at first estimated repairs at $5 million, but by September the figure had grown to as much as $16 million. And so on.

An incredible amount has been accomplished, but much remains to be done. With a disaster this large, it could not be otherwise.