Southland
Quake
Newspaper of the Universit
of Southern California
Wednesday January 19,1994 Vol. CXXII, No. 5
Effects of Monday’s earthquake were felt throughout L.A. A police officer redirects traffic on the 118 Freeway (I). Mudd Hall of Philosophy (r) sustained minor damage.
USC survives earthquake
University’s campuses suffer no major structural damage; ACCESS, phone and water problems rectified
By Anthony Shubert and Kim Smith
Staff Writers
While Southern California rolled in the wake of Monday's earthquake, university engineers reported that the University Park and Health Sciences campuses had emerged relatively unscathed.
"Generally, damage to both campuses was remarkably light," said Mark Jones, university architect and director of Planning, Design and Construction. "No campus buildings sustained major structural damage, and numerous spills and leaks were quickly controlled and cleaned up."
In the hours following the earthquake, many residential complexes on campus were evacuated while university engineers inspected the buildings. They reported mainly cosmetic damage, such as cracked walls, power interruptions and phone problems.
"Some minor cracks were cause for concern, but most of the buildings were cleared by engineers before 10 a.m.," said Michael Ayers, customer service manager for on-campus housing. Buildings that were inspected and approved by the Department of Operations and Management are marked with a green tag on the doors.
The university's water supply has also been cleared.
"We've been told that water on this campus is drinkable," said Jeff Urdahl, director of housing and residence halls. "All of the fountains are safe."
Residents had been warned not to drink the water, as city officials feared contamination. Housing supplied bottled water to students without facilities to boil water, including most of the residence halls, but will be ending the distribution.
The city's Department of Water and Power restored power to two-thirds of the campus at 8:15 a.m. Monday and to the rest of the campus at 2 that afternoon, Jones said.
Urdahl said the ACCESS system in some areas was down for a few hours, but was restored by 10 a.m.
Urdahl also said the phone problems were confined to a few buildings, including Kerckhoff, Century and Park-side apartments, when components were shaken loose. He said phone technicians repaired them by Tuesday morning.
Students are now back in their residence halls and there is room for students who commute from the valley,
(See Campus, page 2)
Destruction most extensive near Northridge epicenter; sections of 11	freeways closed as result
By Bill Byron
Staff Writer
Aftershocks from Monday's earthquake continue to shudder the Southland, denying residents any respite from the devastation. The quake, registering 6.6 in magnitude, was the most powerful in Los Angeles history.
The USC campus and surrounding areas managed to escape serious damage, but other regions of the Los Angeles basin were not as fortunate.
Centered in Northridge, the 4:31 a.m. temblor was felt as far away as Oregon to the north and south to the Mexican border. The greatest damage occurred to large sections of the San Fernando Valley, causing major portions of freeway to collapse, gas lines to rupture and buildings to crumble.
Initiated by a previously unknown fault running through the San Fernando Valley, the 10-second tremor left thousands of victims in its wake.
Accounting for at least 38 deaths, the natural disaster has injured hundreds and forced thousands from their homes. Nearly half the fatalities occurred when a three-story structure that had been Northridge Meadows apartments crumbled upon itself, killing 16.
Kendall and Matt Leigh, of Chatsworth, experienced the catastrophe at the epicenter.
"I was sleeping in (my three-year-old daughter) Nicole's room when it woke me up," Kendall said. "I grabbed Nicole and got up, but as I left the bedroom the dresser fell on me. I thought it was going to hit my daughter but somehow it didn't, and I was able to get it off.
"At that time, my husband came from the other bedroom and we all ran out to the front patio. We spent the night in the community recreation room with everyone else from our community. When it finally ended we could see where the garage door flew off, the front door flew off, the stairs had separated from the wall and the cracks all over the house. (Our townhome) hasn't been officially condemned yet, so we're trying to salvage anything we can. But almost everything is gone," she said.
A statement issued by Mayor Richard Riordan Monday night advised the Los Angeles area to boil any tap water used for drinking purposes.
Additionally, he declared the city of Los Angeles an emergency area and subsequently issued a city wide 11 p.m.-to-dawn curfew. Police officers may use their discrete L.A., page 7)
Emergency Operations Center swings into action after quake, ensuring a return to normalcy
By Shanti Paladugu
Staff Writer
A half hour after yesterday's 6.6 temblor disturbed the quiet slumber of university students, the Emergency Operations Center began its role of coordinating emergency response actions.
These actions included evacuation, hazardous material control and medical attention to ensure the safety and security of students, faculty, staff.
"(Our goal is) to bring all the resources together to plan out operational procedures," said Deputy Chief and Commander Clyde Lockley of the Protective Services Division. Lockley is in charge of the EOC.
The EOC kept a status board of all problems, closures and structural damage.
Lockley said there have not been any major problems, except for some leaks and some people who were evacuated.
"People don't like having their routine changed," Lockley said. "We've had to take people out of Embassy Residential College. There were a lot of people irate about that. But we had to look at their safety.
' They are traumatized by the incident and they see that
asking to be removed from their premises as an extension of their trauma," he said.
The center employed people temporarily immediately after opening at 6:30 a.m., until the chiefs could commute to campus, Lockley said.
Lockley said he feels it is absolutely safe for classes to be in progress.
"It certainly withstood a tremendous amount of pressure," he said. "Within less than 24 hours most of the buildings were inspected."
James Dennis, vice president for Student Affairs, said the university did not close Tuesday because facilities were intact and because 10,000 students already live in the area, thus staff would have to come in regardless.
"From the Student Affairs perspective, our goal was to return things to normal as quickly as possible," he said. "This does not mean that we should ignore what has happened."
Dennis said that at 6:30 Monday night, when Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan made a public request that private institutions remain closed on Tuesday, the university had already decided to open.
(See Response, page 18)