In Southland, Emigres Ache for Reports

The impact of India’s deadly earthquake was keenly felt Friday in Southern California, where thousands of residents with friends or family members in India and Pakistan anxiously sought news of loved ones.

Busy phone lines frustrated many of the estimated 200,000 Indian Americans in the area. “The biggest problem is getting information from India,” said Bharatsinh Zala, 47, a Compton pharmacist from Ahmadabad, the commercial hub of Gujarat state, where the quake was centered.

Zala started making calls to India at 1 a.m. California time and never reached his parents’ home. Late in the afternoon, he finally heard from a brother in San Jose that his family was safe and that their house was still standing, although its walls were cracked.

Zala’s experience was probably shared by thousands of Southern Californians. Zala, a lay leader of a Whittier Hindu temple that is a branch of a sect based in Ahmadabad, said that roughly a third of Indians in the local area hail from Gujarat state, in western India.

Kokila Shah, 56, of Cypress heard of the magnitude 7.9 quake when her brother in Los Angeles telephoned late Thursday.

Shah’s thoughts immediately turned to her son, a Buena Park resident vacationing in Gujarat. “I was so worried,” she said tearily. “I couldn’t sleep all night.”

By 1 a.m. Friday, Shah had given up trying to get through on the busy phone lines. At 3:30 a.m., her 30-year-old son, Jaydip, was able to reach her from India. He was safe, even though the top two floors of the house in which he was staying had collapsed.

Local Indian groups began organizing relief efforts Friday. Zala said his congregation is trying to determine whether any members have lost relatives and is raising money for victims in India.

The California Community Foundation is also collecting monetary donations.

The American Red Cross is urging those who wish to contribute to call (800) HELPNOW.

At Seva, a nonprofit community services organization in Buena Park, chief coordinator Mahendra Shah said, “Everybody is scared. It’s a big earthquake, and we have brick-and-cement buildings. Damages will be more severe. We’re in shock.”

Shah said that the community services facility opened at 7 a.m. Friday and that the phones have been ringing ever since.

“Everyone is frantically looking for their loved ones,” he said. “They call to see if we have the latest news, to see if we can help them.”

Times staff writer Tracy Wilson in Ventura contributed to this report.