Hard hit towns begin cleanup // Heat, lack of water pose woes

Jonathan T. Lovitt ;Carolyn Pesce

06/29/1992

USA Today

FINAL

Page 03A

JOSHUA TREE, Calif. - Rattled residents of the Mojave Desert's dusty towns

today begin the perilous task of cleaning up the devastation caused by the

strongest earthquake to hit California in 40 years.

Below spectacular mountains obscured by the dust of thousands of landslides,

three towns - Joshua Tree, Yucca Valley and Landers - were hard hit early

Sunday when the ground shook residents out of their beds to witness the horror

of a natural disaster they knew would eventually come.

``I lost everything,'' said Roger Stockman, owner of the Grubstake Inn in

Landers. ``I tried to buy insurance after the last quake but it was just too

expensive.''

In Yucca Valley, Joseph Bishop, a 3 1/2-year-old Massachusetts boy visiting his

father, was killed by a collapsing chimney. More than 200 others were hurt -

with injuries from broken bones to cuts.

The quake was felt as far as Boise, Idaho, and Las Vegas and Denver. Half a

million southern Californians lost power. Los Angeles suffered little damage, but

frightened residents were shaken awake.

In the rugged San Bernardino Mountains, three buildings burned, seven

collapsed, and roads to the summer community of Big Bear Lake closed.

``Glass is all broken at our cabin,'' said Cindy Arrula, 32, of Mira Loma, seeking

shelter at Big Bear High School. ``We brought our kids up here for the weekend

... and we don't want to go back to the cabin.''

In the desert towns, the quake left homes and businesses teetering on their

foundations and earthquake experts predicting another major shock could be

imminent.

As the cleanup begins, residents must work amid fire damage, buckled roads,

broken water mains, rock slides and broken glass.

``Our chimney collapsed on our car and our water heater broke and it smells like

gas in our house,'' said Tamra Doldo, 22, of Big Bear City, who spent the night

at Big Bear High School. ``Hopefully, we'll be here just one night, but I think

there's going to be another earthquake.''

With the temperature climbing past 100 degrees and water mains broken, a major

concern was the elderly.

In Landers, a retirement community 80 miles east of Los Angeles, Marines from

nearby Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Base brought in water trucks and

emergency food Sunday after the quake knocked over a 500,000-gallon, three-

story water tank.

Residents like retiree Ken Calendario Morales, 68, who is recovering from a

heart attack, were left with no air conditioning and no water.

People lined up to buy what beer, ice and bottled water was left in area grocery

stores where items toppled and smashed on the floor.

With no water available, several mobile home fires were left to burn out on their

own.

Meanwhile, residents found many roads impassable - the main route into Landers

was left with a 30-foot-long, foot-deep crack down the center.

State officials Sunday warned Californians not to travel on dangerous highways.

They were also told to be careful entering structures weakened by the quake:

another aftershock could make them tumble.

Although many residents said they realized earthquakes were a danger when they

moved to the desert, this quake - coming just two months after a magnitude-6.3

quake rocked the area - and lasting more than 30 seconds, was especially

unsettling.

``I'm having an anxiety attack,'' said Ladonna Church, who slashed her feet on

broken glass rushing out of her home. ``It was terrible. You feel like there's no

safe place to go.''

Commercial damage was extensive. A Yucca Valley bowling alley was one of

the worst-damaged buildings after the walls and roof caved in.

``I'm out of business,'' said owner Nick Shalrobien. ``I can't do anything about it.

I tried to get insurance and the insurance company said no.''

Others were just glad to be alive. A neighbor had to help Thomas Bulone lift his

quadriplegic wife out a bedroom window after his doors were blocked by debris.

``Everything was falling around us, but we got out,'' he said. ``I have no idea

where my wallet is, and I don't care.''

Where temblors inflicted damage

Two separate earthquakes Sunday along with numerous aftershocks caused the

ground to roll across southern California and two adjacent states. A look at the

damage and why it happened:

Quakes occurred where San Andreas fault jogs east and than back to the

southeast, creating a complex of faults

Los Angeles: No major damage or fires Second quake: near Big Bear Lake Big

Bear Lake: More than 30 injured; 3 buildings burned, 7 collapsed; some roads

closed Landers: Three-story, 500,000 gallon water tank toppled; highways

buckled Joshua Tree: 67 people treated for injuries at Hi-Desert Medical Center

Yucca Valley: Toddler crushed to death by crumbling chimney; 5 fires, bowling

alley roof collapsed San Diego, Orange counties: About 17,500 households were

without power.

Comparing damage The Joshua Tree earthquake Sunday was stronger than the

Loma Prieta quake near San Franciso in 1989 but caused considerably less

damage because of its rural location. Big Bear Lake 6.5 Joshua Tree 7.4 Loma

Prieta 7.1

The San Andreas connection Sunday's earthquakes occurred in an area of many

small fault zones near the San Andreas Fault. Geologists won't speculate on the

cause of the quakes, but those on or near the San Andreas are caused by the

sideways shifting of two continental plates: 1. Plates on the Earth's surface move

in opposite directions - about 2 inches per year 2. Friction at `lock points' stops

movement 3. Pressure builds, forcing lock points to break loose, sending out

shock waves - an earthquake.

Contributing: Mary-Ann Bendel, Jim Brooks, Mimi Hall.

CUTLINE:LOST EVERYTHING: Roger Stockman, owner of the Grubstake Inn

in Landers, Calif., describes the earthquake from the dining room of his

restaurant. Says Stockman: `It was like a monster.'

GRAPHIC;b/w,Marty Baumann, USA TODAY ;PHOTO;b/w,Doug Park,The

Desert Sun