DEVASTATING JOLT IN JAPAN : Van Nuys Woman Reported Victim

A Van Nuys woman is apparently the lone American casualty reported so far in the Kobe, Japan, earthquake, the woman’s father said Tuesday night. He identified her as Bonnie Wong, 24, who graduated from UCLA in 1993.

Henry K. Wong of Van Nuys said his daughter was working as a private tutor in Ashiya, a small town a few miles from Kobe, when the quake struck. Her roommate reported by telephone that Wong was crushed when “the second story of her apartment collapsed,” he said.

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo reported that one American, named Bonnie Wong, died in the quake, but had no details of her identity. Although officials had not yet confirmed his daughter as the dead woman, the phone call from her roommate convinced him that it was her, Henry K. Wong said.