Under blue skies, dark days lie ahead

Debbie Howlett

01/19/1994

USA Today

FINAL

Page 03A

On the day after, the sun burned off a thick brown smog and revealed another

blue-sky California morning.

But then the ground heaved and buckled again - one of hundreds of aftershocks

that have rippled through the San Fernando Valley since Monday. One on

Tuesday registered 4.3 on the Richter scale.

"I'm totally drained," said Bobbie Gale, a publicity agent who spent Tuesday

scavenging for flashlights and batteries.

The City of Angels awoke from a tenuous night's sleep - even the slightest

midnight tremor recalled the terror of Monday's record shaker - to a two-hour

commute, a major cleanup and a determination to return to life the way it was

BTQ: before the quake.

"I'm just living day-by-day like everyone is," said a shaken Miguel Ayala, whose

Reseda home was leveled by the earthquake. "I made it through to today. I don't

know about tomorrow yet."

Or the tomorrows after that.

Warned Mayor Richard Riordan: "We had a rough day yesterday. The days

ahead will also be rough."

And even though the worst appeared to be over, no one was ready to say that life

was back to normal.

Finding necessities

Grocery stores in the valley, if they opened at all, forced customers to queue up

in lines that snaked around blocks. The wait at gas stations was even longer.

Thousands flocked to fast-food restaurants.

Rolanda Miller, co-manager of the Bally's in Encino, opened the health club's

doors - not for workouts but to let members shower.

"It was only right," said Miller, whose uncle, James Green, died of a heart attack

during the quake. "So many things are happening, who needs the extra stress of

not being clean and comfortable."

Fire officials said getting water into the northern area of the San Fernando Valley

was a major problem. Nine tanker trucks arrived, but officials were trying to

borrow 30 more from other agencies.

Businesses, schools closed

Across the city, business districts were nearly ghosts towns, though a few

restaurants decided to open in the evening despite curfews and damage.

The Los Angeles police urged businesses to remain closed, and commuters to

stay home. "Obviously, it's asking a lot," said Sgt. Richard Todd. "Hopefully, by

the end of this week we should have things adjusted."

School officials, meanwhile, reported 200 damaged school buildings. More than

half were deemed unfit for students.

Most schools remain closed, but districts to the south, including Compton,

Bellflower, Long Beach, Lynwood and Hawthorne, reopened on Tuesday.

Courts were on hold as well, including jury deliberations in the Lyle Menendez

murder case because of damage at the courthouse in Van Nuys. There, doors and

windows were shattered and Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg was unsure

when deliberations could resume.

Relief efforts

At least 24,000 people are reported homeless. American Red Cross President

Elizabeth Dole told NBC the agency had set up 18 shelters to house 2,700 people

in the San Fernando Valley.

State authorities said about 4,000 people spent the night in emergency shelters,

while thousands camped in city parks, waiting for word their homes were safe or

relatives had found a place for them to live.

"We've become kind of an oasis in this community," said parks manager Jackie

Tatum. "Even during the riots . . . the parks were a place where the people could

go for a respite, to find a comfort zone."

Safety checks

More than 700 building engineers and inspectors fanned out across a 460-square

mile area, checking for cracked foundations, leaking gas pipes and houses too

dangerous to be occupied. Inspectors were posting red-lettered "Unsafe" signs on

the doors of destroyed homes.

The state also sent out 300 search-and-rescue teams equipped with high-tech

listening devices and tiny cameras to look for bodies buried in the wreckage.

"What we're finding is people even with the most minor damages are

apprehensive about going back inside," said Dave Keim of the city building and

safety department.

Gwen Wittenbrock, 22, stood outside her apartment, hoping to retrieve her

collectible glassware, her stereo and a computer. She already knew that her

Northridge Meadows complex would be uninhabitable.

Still, she was hopeful: "I'm trying to not let the earthquake beat me."

Curfew checks

Police continued to loosely enforce a dusk-to-dawn curfew, with 73 people

arrested Tuesday for crimes such as robbery and curfew violations.

There were just six arrests for looting. "It was very peaceful," said police

spokesman Don Cox. "We were prepared for a whole lot, but we didn't get it."

More than 2,000 National Guard soldiers were mobilized; many could be seen

patrolling the San Fernando Valley.

The commute

Perhaps the worst commute was not to downtown but through Los Angeles.

Truckers on the Grapevine - a stretch of Interstate 5 that snakes through a steep

northern pass and connects Los Angeles like an umbilical cord to northern

California - were left to find alternate routes.

Many took a wide loop around the city, through the Mojave Desert.

Metrolink, the 15-month-old commuter rail, added five cars to its regular

three-car trains that run 35 miles to Los Angeles from Santa Clarita. But even

trains were not stress-free. "I think it would have been faster to bring my car,"

grumbled Julie Wolfe, a city firefighter.

With 35% of the traffic signals out in the San Fernando Valley and portions of

11 major arteries closed, transportation officials worked day and night to avoid

gridlock.

But at one location, where motorists were forced off the Santa Monica Freeway,

the busiest highway in America, it took drivers one hour to go four blocks.

Rebuilding some stretches of the highway may take as long as 18 months, said

state Transportation Department officials.

Utilities still out

No lights, no phones, no stove, no hairdryer, no CD player, no TV, no electric

clocks, no stoplights, no elevators, no hot water in the shower.

It was a long, technologically frustrating day for thousands.

Throughout the valley, power was being restored in a patchwork fashion.

About 100,000 homes remained without power, and between 50,000 and 100,000

were without water, almost all in San Fernando Valley. It could be a week or

more before water is restored.

"All I really want right now is water. I'll worry about the rest later," said Abbie

Grubin, standing 10-deep in a line at a Northridge grocery store.

Cellular phone users, heartened at first to hear dial tones, were rebuffed with a

recorded message: "All circuits are busy. Please try your call later."

Long-distance service remained sporadic as companies blocked calls and

appealed to the public to reduce calls to prevent jam-ups.

Earthquake tax

Even before the cleanup began, politicians in Sacramento were talking about a

tax increase to cover some of the more than $7 billion in losses.

"While we have no numbers available yet, we feel the total property damage will

far exceed $7 billion, and insured losses will be greater than $1 billion, which is

about the amount of damage caused by the San Francisco earthquake," said

Rhonda Ruch of A.M. Best.

State Assembly Speaker Willie Brown said the state Assembly will consider a

1/4-point increase to the 7 1/4% sales tax.

Signs of normalcy

Everyone felt the quake, but not all of Los Angeles was reeling. Along the

Pacific Coast Highway - clearly in view of collapsed houses on the nearby hill -

volleyball games were in full gear and rollerbladers were cutting patterns on the

concrete sidewalks.

"For the most part it was normal," said J.J. Yankow of Becker Surf Shops in

Malibu. "People can't get to work so they're going surfing."

Along Topanga Canyon Boulevard, health food restaurants were full. In

Hollywood, some tourists could be found looking for their favorites along the

Walk of Stars.

But perhaps the most common sight in southern California on the day after was

people picking up broken glass, righting fallen furniture and sweeping up rubble.

In Culver City, Debbie Boyd - who spent hours cleaning up "salsa, jelly and

Tabasco sauce from one end of the kitchen to the other" - was frustrated.

"I've always loved L.A.," she said, "But Idaho is looking better and better."

Contributing: William B. Welch, Carol J. Castaneda, Mimi Hall, Jonathan T.

Lovitt , Mary-Ann Bendel, Reuters and The Associated Press

PHOTOS,b/w,Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY (2); PHOTO,b/w,Patricia Lanza,

USA TODAY ; PHOTO,b/w,Matt Mendelsohn, USA TODAY