Disaster Declared in Earthquake Zone
PASO ROBLES, Calif. (Dec. 23) -- Aftershocks rattled central California Tuesday as crews tallied damage from a magnitude-6.5 earthquake that killed two people, injured dozens and badly damaged the business district of this wine country town.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger toured downtown Paso Robles, where both fatalities occurred when Monday's quake toppled a 19th century building with a landmark clock tower, and declared a state of emergency in San Luis Obispo County.
''At 11 a.m. yesterday this was an American main street, alive with energy. ... Today this is a site of devastation. But we will come together once again as Californians and as neighbors. We will rebuild this town square,'' Schwarzenegger said.
People from San Francisco to Los Angeles were shaken by Monday's quake, the first to cause fatalities in the state since a magnitude-6.7 temblor hit Northridge in 1994.
In Paso Robles, about 20 miles east of the epicenter, the bodies of two women were pulled from under the roof the clock tower building, which pitched into the street and crushed a row of parked cars.
The main shock was centered in a sparsely populated area about 11 miles north of the coastal town of Cambria. It was followed Monday and early Tuesday by more than 90 aftershocks larger than 3.0, the biggest of which was estimated at 4.7, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. There were seven aftershocks of 4.0 to 4.6 on Tuesday morning.
The state Office of Emergency Services said there was a 90 percent or greater probability that aftershocks of 5.0 magnitude or greater would follow in the next week.
By Monday night, search and rescue crews in Paso Robles had combed all seriously damaged buildings and were confident they had found all the quake's victims, though the owner of one car crushed in the rubble had still not been found.
''We're out of rescue mode and now it's just going to be general debris removal,'' said Battalion Chief Scott Hall of the Ventura County Fire Department.
Mayor Frank Mecham said Tuesday that 82 downtown buildings had been identified for possible damage and recommended for further inspection. He predicted the economic impact of the quake on the city of 25,000 would be ''significant.''
''This downtown has been a very vital element to this community,'' he said. ''All we're waiting for is the governor to declare an emergency. Then we'll be asking for federal assistance.''
The bodies of Jennifer Myrick, 20, of Atascadero, and Marilyn Zafuto, 55, of Paso Robles, were found on the street outside a dress shop on Monday.
''It appeared as though they were trying to get away,'' Paso Robles police Sgt. Bob Adams said.
A young boy suffered a broken arm and another person received minor injuries when a bakery collapsed, while citywide there were reports of about 40 minor injuries, said Adams.
Light rain fell Tuesday morning as crews were to resume clearing debris in the downtown area, much of which remained off-limits to the public.
The quake shook the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, the estate of the legendary publisher William Randolph Hearst. The castle reported no injuries and no immediate signs of any serious damage. It was scheduled to be open Tuesday.
The quake also shook the federal courthouse in San Francisco, 165 miles to the northwest of the epicenter, and sent the building's upper floors swaying for about 30 seconds. People in downtown Los Angeles, 185 miles southeast, felt a sustained rolling motion.
In Paso Robles, residents described a scene of falling bricks, collapsing ceilings and panicked Christmas shoppers.
The historic clock tower structure, sometimes called the Acorn Building, was made of wood and unreinforced masonry, Adams said - a type of construction no longer allowed under modern building codes.
Marilyn Curry watched the buildings collapse from her law firm across the street, then ran to a city park where people were frantically searching for others they knew.
''There were people shouting outside 'Oh my God, Oh my God,''' she said. ''Everybody was just shaking, then we were all just grabbing onto each other. There was a lot of hugging going on.''
Other than Paso Robles, damage appeared minor elsewhere in the region known for wineries and horse ranches. A worker at Wild Horse Winery in Templeton suffered minor injuries when barrels fell on her, authorities said.
About 75,000 homes and businesses in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties initially lost power after the quake, said Pacific Gas & Electric spokesman Bill Roake. By Tuesday morning, power was restored to all but 1,600 customers, he said.
The quake was felt in the control room of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant operated by PG&E. Nelson said that there appeared to be no damage to the plant and that it was functioning normally.
The quake struck in a known fault zone on a series of faults that run parallel to the San Andreas Fault, said Lucy Jones, scientist in charge of the U.S. Geological Survey office in Pasadena.
The last one of a similar size in the area was in 1952, said Ross Stein of the USGS in Menlo Park.
''This probably shook strong enough you would expect all kinds of damage to the contents of houses,'' said Tom Heaton, professor of earthquake engineering at the California Institute of Technology. He added that landslides were also possible.
Monday's quake was the state's most powerful since 1999, when a nonfatal magnitude-7.1 temblor struck the desert near Joshua Tree.
The 1994 Northridge quake hit a densely populated area near Los Angeles and killed 72 people, injured 9,000 and caused an estimated $15.3 billion in insured losses.
Hang in there katt, you'll hear from her soon.