TERROR IN OKLAHOMA CITY : Bomb Threats Prompt Tightened Security at Federal, Local Government Buildings : Southland: Phony reports are called in to several locations but no devices are found. Extra safety precautions are taken across region.

Reports of bomb threats in Southern California on Wednesday kept normally composed government employees near the snapping point. Hundreds had to be evacuated and security at federal buildings was increased after a bomb blast racked a federal building in Oklahoma City.

What turned out to be phony threats were reported at federal buildings in Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties, at a county office building in San Diego and at city halls in Riverside and Santa Ana. Banks, post offices and businesses were also targeted, but no bombs were found, authorities said.

The threats and the searing television images from Oklahoma City produced an air of wariness and prompted workers to wonder about their security.

Federal buildings throughout Southern California were quickly placed on “heightened awareness” status, and state and county officials also pumped up security precautions. At most government buildings only one entrance was open, and visitors were searched more carefully than usual before they were allowed to enter.

In downtown Santa Ana, a bomb-sniffing dog searched a private building that houses the Orange County FBI headquarters and contains offices of the Orange County public defender and district attorney and a property-management firm.

About 150 people were sent outside for two hours after an anonymous male caller telephoned the FBI about 9:45 a.m., claiming a bomb in the building was about to go off. FBI spokesman Gary Morley declined to reveal details but said it was “specific enough that we wanted to take it seriously.”

In Anaheim, City Hall and an adjacent city building were evacuated after a bomb threat there, sending more than 700 people onto the streets for more than two hours.

“We’re not too worried because there are always a lot of crank calls and kooks running around after an event like this,” said Deputy U.S. Marshal Bruce James at the U.S. Courthouse in Los Angeles, where a bomb threat briefly stopped the day’s work. He noted that he and his colleagues were used to a certain level of wariness. “We don’t see any pattern of things blowing up across the country at this point, so we’re professionally carrying on with our duties.”

At the Ronald Reagan State Building in Downtown Los Angeles, employees were told to be on the lookout for suspicious activities, unattended packages or anyone walking around aimlessly, said building manager Jim Miller.

A teacher at a child-care facility inside the building said employees were horrified to learn that children at two Oklahoma City day-care centers were among the casualties there. She said concerned parents had been jamming the phones to check on their children.

“We’ve been listening to the radio and praying for the kids because they are so vulnerable and so innocent,” said the teacher.

Pasadena police evacuated about 40 people from a post office after employees reported a suspicious package in the building’s lobby. Customers and employees were briefly evacuated from the facility at 600 Lincoln Ave. about 11:40 a.m., said Pasadena Police Lt. Alex Uribe.

At the Federal Building in Westwood, two of the three main entrances were locked. Getting inside generally took more than half an hour as guards forced people to line up outside. Each person was asked to show identification, and packages and handbags were searched.

Los Angeles resident Donna Freeman came to the building to renew her passport. She said the additional wait was an inconvenience but was expected “because of the tough times we’re living in.”

“I’m a fatalist,” Freeman said. “If I’m going to die in a blast, I’m going to die in a blast. There’s nothing I can do about it.”

Sandy Seltzer, a property manager who processes home loans for veterans, said he knew something was wrong when an announcement was made over loudspeakers throughout the 17-story building that all federal employees would be required to show their identification badge when entering the facility.

“Normally, they just let us walk in if the guard recognizes you,” said Seltzer, whose office is on the second floor. “No one knew why they were requiring badges, but within 10 minutes the news spread, something about an accident in Oklahoma City. It was like wildfire. Everyone was talking.”

A single line snaked its way around the front of the Federal Building in Downtown Los Angeles as people waited several minutes before passing through a metal detector.

“Just the place I want to be on the morning of the bombing,” said Jessica Leddington as she waited in line to do business at one of the government offices. “I think it’s terrible what happened and I can’t believe someone would do that.”

Signs of nervousness were apparent elsewhere. Panicky parents pulled their children home early from a day-care center in the Federal Building in Laguna Niguel.

Employees at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Ana were hurriedly--and mistakenly--sent outside after a supervisor heard reports of the evacuation at the building that houses the FBI two blocks away.

Outside that building, some office workers milling in a nearby parking lot said they were frightened after an agent came to the door to direct them outside. “He said, ‘Don’t panic. We just got a bomb threat,’ ” said Vienna Chernabaeff, a receptionist at the firm that manages the building. “His lip was quivering. I knew it was serious.”

Times staff writers Lisa Respers in Los Angeles, Ken Ellingwood and Martin Miller in Orange County, Tom Gorman in Riverside, Miguel Bustillo in Ventura County, Tony Perry in San Diego, and correspondents Tom Jennings in Los Angeles and Lisa O’Neill in Pasadena contributed to this story.