Aftershocks terrorize California // One strikes nearly every 40 minutes

  Jonathan T. Lovitt

  07/13/1992

  USA Today

  FINAL

  Page 06A

  (Copyright 1992)

 

  BIG BEAR CITY, Calif. - Widow Cindy Schroeder and her six children have

  been living in their front yard.

 

  Roberta Cardiel moved to a temporary tent city.

 

  And Ann Cox is still trying to figure out what to do after her Victorian home slid

  off its foundation and down a hillside.

 

  ``I'm trying to salvage my belongings,'' says Cox, 52. ``But it's scary going in

  there. It teeters like a fun house.''

 

  Since two major earthquakes hit this area June 28, residents have been terrorized

  by aftershocks at the rate of about one every 40 minutes. People here are scared,

  confused and anxiety-ridden.

 

  And while they barely felt the latest 5.1 quake Saturday near Mojave - 90 miles

  north of Los Angeles - it didn't matter. They're still trying to recover from last

  Wednesday's shaker measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale and increasing the

  number of people who are becoming homeless.

 

  ``Everything that didn't come down with the first ones came down Wednesday

  night,'' says Schroeder, 35, whose rented home - like many residents here - has

  been condemned by city officials. ``If I'm feeling brave, I go inside to use the

  stove, but most of the time it's hot dogs on the grill.''

 

  The latest big one sent more than 200 people to a local Red Cross shelter.

 

  ``We've had a number of families here night after night,'' says Bill Moak of the

  American Red Cross. ``As long as we keep having more aftershocks, people will

  keep showing up here.''

 

  Hundreds of residents have moved into tents rather than riding out the

  aftershocks slowly destroying their homes.

 

  ``I'm a basket case,'' says Roberta Cardiel, 39. An eight-year resident, Cardiel

  moved into a temporary tent city with her three daughters after the twin temblors

  - measuring 7.4 and 6.5 on the Richter scale - destroyed their home.

 

  ``I'm packed and ready to move, but where?'' she says.

 

  Sgt. Mark Taylor of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department spends his

  days re-assessing damage estimates after each new shake.

 

  ``When is Cal Tech going to stop calling them aftershocks?'' says Taylor. ``These

  are earthquakes.''

 

  In a combined effort, federal, state and local disaster agencies have set up a

  special center for victims to find out what - if any - disaster assistance they can

  expect.

 

  ``Most every relief agency has a table here,'' says Bill Sanders of the federal

  emergency management agency. But the problem is many people are reluctant to

  ask for aid.

 

  ``Most of these people have never had to ask the government for anything,''

  Sanders says. ``We tell them there's nothing to be ashamed of, but they're still

  embarrassed.''

 

  For many residents of this high mountain area, getting life back to normal has

  been all but impossible.

 

  Cox made it through the first quakes. But when she returned from dinner last

  Wednesday she found her house at the bottom of a hill.

 

  Peter Klockary, 56, has been living in a tent for almost two weeks. Klockary,

  whose legs are paralyzed from polio, lost the small shack he'd been living in for

  the past three years.

 

  ``I'm O.K,'' he says. ``It would be different if I had a family or kids. My next job

  is to find a new place.''

 

  Throughout the area, children are starting to suffer from the constant shifting of

  the ground. Officials have started special counseling sessions to try and ease their

  fears.

 

  ``I keep having dreams of my house falling down on me,'' says 11-year-old

  Mone' McColum. ``The group keeps me from being scared.''

 

  California Earthquakes Quake site Date of quake Quake force Big Bear Lake

  June 28, 6.5 Yucca Valley June 28, 7.4

 

  June 29, 5.6 Pasadena June 30, 3.9

 

  July 8, 5.3 Big Bear Lake July 9, 4.1 Mojave July 11, 5.1

 

  CUTLINE:LIVING IN FRONT YARD: The Schroeders have been living in a

  travel trailer outside their damaged home in Big Bear City, Calif. From left,

  Jessica, Wesley, Cindy Schroeder, Darlene and Tabatha.

  GRAPHIC;b/w,Marty Baumann, USA TODAY ,Source: USA TODAY

  research(Map,Calif.);PHOTO;b/w,Bob Riha Jr.,Gamma-Liaison