[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 25, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: January 25, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
THE CALIFORNIA QUAKE OF 1994
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I would like to take a few moments to
report on the tragic 6.6 earthquake that struck southern California
just 8 days ago. I know my colleague, Senator Boxer, will also want to
speak. We were both able to fly over the earthquake area, to visit the
rubble in Northridge, Santa Monica, Hollywood, and all throughout the
San Fernando Valley. I visited shelters and schools.
The harsh reality is that more people were left homeless by the
Northridge earthquake than by Hurricane Andrew, which until now was
considered the worst natural disaster in modern American history.
Now, those who lost homes, businesses, and loved ones turn to the
Federal Government and to this Congress, as well as to the State, for
assistance.
Let me talk about the damage caused by the earthquake. This was a
newly discovered fault which had a lateral thrust up on the two
converging plates. This resulted in sudden and very strong vertical
acceleration so that the damage that was done was considerably higher
than other 6.6 earthquakes. The epicenter was in the heart of an urban
area for the first time. The devastation is worse than the 7.1 Loma
Prieta earthquake in 1989, or any earthquake in California, with the
possible exception of the 1906 San Andreas temblor in San Francisco.
In the last 8 days, there have been 2,500 aftershocks, each one
rendering more damage, and some of them close to 5 on the Richter
scale. Hospitals such as St. John's in Santa Monica have been
condemned. Freeways were closed, including the one freeway that carries
more people than any other in America--350,000 people a day.
After 8 days, here are some statistics: 57 people dead; of 20,000
buildings inspected, 1,057 structures, including about 13,000 dwelling
units, have been declared uninhabitable, and this is less than half of
the buildings that need inspection; 9,000 people have been treated for
injuries, and 1,241 hospitalized.
In excess of 20,000 people, I estimate, are homeless. More than
14,000 have been given shelter in tents erected by the Army and the
National Guard; in shelters operated by the Red Cross and the Salvation
Army; and with supplies from volunteer organizations.
As many as four hospitals have been closed and 10 percent of the
hospital beds in the area cannot be used. These are St. John's, the
Panorama-Kaiser Hospital, the U.S. Veterans Affairs Medical Center in
Sepulveda, and the Los Angeles County/USC Psychiatric Pavilion.
As many as 76 schools will not open today because of the earthquake.
As a result, 65,000 students who attend these schools will stay home
today.
There is a great need for Federal assistance.
According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the need for
assistance--particularly housing assistance--is even greater than
Hurricane Andrew.
In 1 hour alone, FEMA received 15,000 calls for help which it could
not answer. To date, 99,000 applications for assistance have been filed
with FEMA.
Initially, FEMA set up 11 disaster assistance centers. I sent members
of my staff to each site, where they have helped cut redtape,
responded to human needs, and alerted me of progress.
These centers were initially overwhelmed by demand. FEMA has been
flexible, and they have ironed out problems. They have extended hours.
There will be 16 centers by the end of today located in Northridge,
Santa Monica, Tarzana, Santa Clarita, Sylmar, Simi Valley, Van Nuys,
Fillmore, Hollywood, Sherman Oaks, Calabasas, San Fernando, Glendale,
and three in Los Angeles.
The early damage estimates range from $15 billion to $30 billion. But
it is still too early to know the full extent of the damage since much
of the damage will only be known once full structural surveys have been
completed.
I would like to compliment the administration, particularly the
President, who took the time to fly out to see the damage firsthand;
Secretary Cisneros, who is still in southern California and who has
made 10,000 section 8 housing vouchers available which provide rental
assistance for 1\1/2\ years.
Secretary of Transportation Pena was out there to bring in additional
rail cars for the Metrolink system which provides rail transportation
from the affected areas to Los Angeles.
I would like to thank FEMA Director James Witt, who is still in the
region, for his hands-on authority. FEMA has responded. They have
responded with alacrity.
I want to thank the mayor of Los Angeles, Mayor Riordan; the Governor
of the State of California, Pete Wilson; and his emergency operations
director, Dick Andrews.
This has been a true bipartisan effort to respond. And now our job is
to keep it that way because this morning Leon Panetta, the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget, met with the California
congressional delegation, and right at this time he is announcing that
a supplemental appropriations bill will be proceeding forthwith through
the House of Representatives.
The figures in this supplemental--and I want to stress this, because
the Governor of California has just called--can be amended. I know the
Governor has spoken to the Republican leader indicating his concern
that an early supplemental will not reflect the true nature of the
vastness of the devastation.
The fact of the matter is that the supplemental can be amended as it
moves through the process and as figures are cleared. The
administration has also indicated their commitment to do just that.
I have spoken directly with chairman of the Appropriations Committee,
Robert C. Byrd, who has assured me of his 100-percent support to move
the supplemental appropriations bill forward as rapidly as possible. We
very much appreciate the Senator's support.
I also spoke with my chairman on the HUD/VA Subcommittee, who spoke
with singular enthusiasm, as only Senator Mikulski can, about her
willingness to see that that subcommittee responds promptly and with
alacrity. I also appreciate her support.
As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I will do everything I
possibly can to see that funds are expedited and that they are adequate
once they reach the committee.
Yet, the Federal Government alone cannot possibly secure all of the
funds necessary for a full recovery. I believe it is critical that the
State of California put together a fair-share plan whereby all State
resources--bond issues, tax increases, if necessary--are used to assist
in the recovery.
Anything short of a full partnership between the State and the
Federal Government will not be sufficient to meet this tremendous need.
Immediately following the disaster, as you know, FEMA pays 100
percent of the cost of the first 72 hours, and the President extended
this for 5 additional days. From that point on, it is usual for FEMA to
pay 75 percent and the local jurisdiction 25 percent. The
administration has waived this, and so the match will be 90-10. That is
very helpful to the hard-pressed State of California.
While the first priority of government is to provide emergency
assistance for the disaster, I also believe it is incumbent upon all
California officials to reevaluate the building code. In both Loma
Prieta and this earthquake, I observed where wood frame construction
was not adequate, and the loss of life in housing, both in Loma Prieta
as well as in this earthquake, came in wood frame construction. And so
improvements need to be made and codes need to be updated.
It has also been reported that only 25 percent of Californians have
earthquake insurance because of the high cost of premiums and the high
deductibility. It is incumbent upon us, I believe, to produce
legislation to mandate affordable earthquake insurance. Senator Boxer
and I will work together in that regard, and the administration has
made the secretary of the cabinet available as a point person to help
us in that effort.
But throughout this tragedy, what has been the most amazing, has been
the people. This is just remarkable. Volunteers of the Salvation Army
reported immediately to work, despite the fact that their homes were
demolished. Corporate Citizens donated food, tents, supplies.
Firefighters and police from Los Angeles and from the neighboring
communities worked around the clock.
The amazing resilience and the determination of people came through
over and over again. In a crisis, people who have never ever asked for
a handout for the first time came for help. I saw one elderly woman in
her eighties whose husband had just died, who was standing outside of a
shelter, homeless, saying, ``What will I do now? How will I be able to
live? First my husband and now this.''
I ask unanimous consent that a copy of a recent Los Angeles Times
story be printed in the Congressional Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the Los Angeles Times, Jan. 24, 1994]
Tragedy Before Dawn--Earthquake Was Merciless, Indiscriminate in
Claiming Its Victims
(By J. Michael Kennedy, Sheryl Stolberg, Marc Lacey, Doug Smith, and
John Johnson)
The numbers kept climbing as first the hours, then the
days, slipped by.
The names of the dead.
The young, the old. Businessmen and homemakers. An ex-con
on Skid Row. A 4-year-old girl who loved frilly skirts and
pink cowboy boots. More than 50 in all.
Roughly a third were in a single apartment complex whose
upper two floors collapsed. One couple died when their vast
collection of books and model trains fell on them as they
slept. An electrician died when he picked up a high voltage
wire draped across a car, an act of heroism turned to
tragedy.
A woman may have literally died of fright as she rushed to
check on her infant son. In the dark, a motorcycle policeman
did not see where the temblor had opened a gash in an
overpass.
Most of the victims were still in bed when Monday's quake
shook the earth at 4:31 a.m. with unrelenting anger. Others
risked danger to help someone else. Together, they were the
grimmest statistics in this, one of the costliest disasters
in U.S. history.
Here are some of their stories.
youngest victim had a last beautiful weekend
Amy Tyre-Vigil.--It had been, in Anastacio Vigil's words,
``a beautiful weekend.'' His wife, Nancy Tyre, and 4-year-old
daughter, Amy, had gone to a concert. He had taken Amy on a
bike ride. The whole family had gone to the zoo. And Amy had
sampled her first meatball Sunday night.
Vigil and Tyre, both 40, had chatted happily about the
future, about the second baby, a boy, on the way, about the
new house they were going to buy once their Sherman Oaks home
sold. Tyre, who like her husband is a family-practice doctor,
told a friend she looked forward to having a bigger place
when the baby came.
All of that, gone in an instant. Amy was buried Friday
afternoon, the youngest victim of the temblor. More than 200
mourners said goodby to the dark-haired girl who loved her
artwork, her nursery school, and chocolate chip cookies
without nuts.
Her mother was not among those present. Instead, a rabbi
went to Valley Presbyterian Hospital to join Tyre, seven
months pregnant and bedridden with a broken pelvis, in
reciting Yizkor, the Jewish prayer for the dead.
Amy was crushed when the earthquake sent her home hurtling
down its hillside, collapsing it into a flattened wreck of
wood and stucco, tile and glass. Her father does not remember
much about what happened.
``It felt like somebody picked up the house and just
violently shook it. Nancy said, `Get Amy!' As I was getting
up there was a big flash of light and a terrible crashing
sound. The next thing I remember, I was trapped.''
In the darkness, pinned under boards, able only to wiggle
his right foot, Vigil heard his wife moaning that she could
not breathe. He listened for his daughter, but heard nothing.
The silence worried him. He concentrated on trying to calm
his wife. ``Breathe slowly,'' he told her. ``Breathe slowly.
We're going to be OK.''
The couple lay there for at least an hour on the ground
amid the ruins, too far away to touch one another, talking as
they shivered in the cold. Finally, they heard voices. It was
the neighbors, venturing outside for the first time.
It took an hour for the rescue workers to pick their way
through the rubble. They freed Vigil first. ``I felt a human
hand on my leg,'' he said, ``and it was just the most
beautiful feeling.''
He suffered a broken rib, and injuries to his leg and jaw,
but he told the doctor who treated him at Sherman Oaks
Hospital that he could not stay, that he needed a taxi. He
had to find his wife and daughter. Sit down, the doctor told
him. He would make some calls.
The emergency physician learned that Tyre and Amy had been
taken to Valley Presbyterian. He also learned what had
happened to Amy. Gently, he told Vigil that his daughter had
been killed. Though the crisis was mounting at his own
hospital, the doctor drove Vigil to see his injured wife.
Tyre looked better than he expected. And the baby would be
fine.
He grabbed her, held her close, and whispered the wrenching
words: ``We lost her.''
and her son will really not have known her at all
Elizabeth Brace.--Earthquakes terrified Elizabeth Brace. As
a young girl, her family's home had been heavily damaged by
the Sylmar quake in 1971. Her husband, Thomas, said there was
a certain way she acted when the earth rumbled, a kind of
tenseness until the shaking stopped and the danger passed.
At the time of their marriage, he was 43, she 31. They had
set about quickly to begin a family. Elizabeth had quit her
job when Michelle was born five years ago, followed by
Christopher 3\1/2\ years later.
Three years ago, the Braces moved to Rancho Cucamonga in
San Bernardino County. They wanted a bigger house and a
decent school district. Elizabeth had become a Scout leader
when Michelle was old enough to be a Daisy. She volunteered
as a room mother a couple of days a week when Michelle
started kindergarten this year.
It was the good life in a quiet, suburban way.
There was little to make Sunday evening apart from others.
Elizabeth had an appointment Monday morning. She was trying
to earn some extra money while working at home and was
thinking of doing the billing for a local doctor.
And then, before dawn, the quake hit.
The couple held each other in those first frightening
moments. They did it instinctively because of Elizabeth's
fears. Then, a few seconds later, she got up and raced for
Christopher's room. Thomas went to Michelle's.
What Thomas remembers next was a loud noise in the next
room. Not a cry. More like something falling.
``She was just lying on the floor,'' said Thomas, a
computer programmer. ``She was unconscious and bleeding from
the nose and mouth. I tried CPR but I don't think I did a
good job of it. I'm not trained for that kind of thing.
``I called 911 and when I came back she was still,'' Thomas
said. ``I couldn't feel a pulse.''
Paramedics arrived in minutes, but could not revive her.
Early on, there was speculation that Elizabeth, 37, may
have died when she tripped on a toy.
The San Bernardino coroner's office said it would take at
least six weeks for the test results. Deputy Coroner Gabriel
Morales said fright as a cause of death, perhaps in the form
of a huge adrenal rush, is not being ruled out.
That's what Thomas suspects: ``If I were to speculate, I
would guess she died of fright and panic.''
Thomas, sitting on his living room couch a few days after
the earthquake, worked hard to hold back his tears as he
talked about his wife and how good their life had been.
``She was such a terrific mother and had gotten the job of
raising the children started so well,'' he said. ``And her
son will really not have known her at all.''
son wrote his epitaph: ``if it weren't for fate * * *''
Howard and James Lee.--Just weeks before his death, Howard
Lee wrote his epitaph.
``If it weren't for fate, I might be somewhere else,'' the
14-year-old boy wrote in an autobiography for school entitled
``My Life.''
The sentence proved as cruelly ironic as anything connected
with the quake. Howard was killed in his bed, a Golf digest
he had been reading close at hand.
Rescurers who arrived at the Northridge Meadows apartments
could still hear Howard--a tall, always-smiling boy who was
thinking of becoming a priest--calling out from the ruins of
Apartment 101. Around him in the darkness, 15 other people
died in the building collapse. Among them was his father,
Pil, 46, trapped in the bathroom where he had been brushing
his teeth before heading off to work as an RTD mechanic.
``Help me! Help me!'' Howard shouted.
Rescuers kept telling the voice to hold on, just a little
longer. But the building had shifted 10 feet to the north
when it collapsed and they could not locate them, even with
the help of Howard's mother, who had been pulled from the
wreckage earlier, along with her other son, 12-year-old
Jason. Finally, they found a pillow and showed it to Hyun
Lee, who said, yes, that belonged to Howard, whom she
affectionately called her ``big son.''
Then they found him.
``This son is dead, ma'am,'' said the firefighter. ``He is
dead.''
Hyun Soon Lee, a deeply religious woman with a cascade of
rich black hair, burst into tears, letting go of the thin
thread of hope she had held onto for four house. ``Can I see
him?'' she asked, Hours later, her husband's body was brought
out, the last recovered from the ruins.
Ex-Con Had a Temper, but He Was a ``FUN-Loving Guy''
Jose Louis Hernandez.--The initial news reports were
sketchy: A mentally ill ex-convict had either jumped or
fallen from a Skid Row flophouse during the quake. Good
Samaritan Hospital called him John Doe No. 17 and said he
died of head injuries caused by a very long fall.
The police report provided a bit more information: He lived
in Room 610 of the Frontier Hotel. His window had been open.
He was found by police lying on his back on the sidewalk,
wearing only blue boxer shorts.
A down-and-out drifter when he died, Jose Louis Hernandez
had a hearty laugh, a violent temper and a long criminal
record. He also had four sons, a daughter and a
granddaughter, although he had been out of touch with his
family for two years.
``He had a temper but he was a good man,'' said his niece,
Eileen Moreno. ``He was a fun-loving guy.''
Just out of state prison, the 49-year-old Hernandez settled
into a studio at the Frontier, a once-grand hotel at Main and
5th streets that had fallen victim to the grittiness around
it. Across the street from two porn theaters and a liquor
store, the Frontier charges $11.99 a night.
A childhood friend, John Seanez, used to joke with
Hernandez about his short, pudgy build. Growing up on the
Eastside in the 1950s, Seanez and Hernandez were homeboys,
partying together and once getting thrown off a city bus for
guzzling beers.
``He was a pretty good guy when we were young,'' said
Seanez, who also lives at the Frontier.
But Hernandez drifted from his friends and drifted from his
family. He also drifted in and out of jail. Since 1962, he
served time for resisting arrest, petty theft, possession of
heroin and cocaine, driving while intoxicated, assault with a
deadly weapon and hit and run.
He once threatened a hotel employee's life when his toilet
got clogged. But he also said ``thank you'' after picking up
his mail. He sometimes heard voices and was taking
psychotropic drugs for his condition.
His parole officer, Robert Humphrey, had no problems with
Hernandez. Since leaving prison on Thanksgiving, Hernandez
had reported regularly, found a place to live and applied for
government aid.
Said Humphrey: ``He was doing pretty good on parole, up
until his recent demise.''
Officer ``Was Quick to Help and That NEVER Changed''
Clarence Wayne Dean.--Minutes after the earthquake hit,
Clarence Dean was putting on his uniform. He was a motorcycle
cop.
He had spent more than half his life with the Los Angeles
Police Department, graduating from the academy in 1968 after
four years in the Marines. He had worked the streets--first
as a patrol officer and later as a motorcycle cop--for nearly
25 years.
A colleague said his blond hair ``always looked like he had
just taken his helmet off.''
On the morning of the earthquake, Dean was not scheduled to
start work until 7 a.m., but the temblor apparently jolted
him out of bed. The 46-year-old officer left his Lancaster
home and headed for work on his motorcycle, blue lights
flashing in the night.
As he drove south in the darkness, he rounded a bend on an
Antelope Valley Freeway interchange. Dean and his motorcycle
plunged 30 feet from the roadway, which had been severed in
the quake. As he fell, the lights of the motorcycle continued
to flash.
``No one called him, no one made him come in that
morning,'' said Danny Staggs, president of the Los Angeles
Police Protective League, who knew Dean. ``He was doing this
to help people.''
Dean, the divorced father of two children, was remembered
as a gregarious man who was quick with a joke or a story.
``He was quick to work and quick to help and that never
changed,'' Sgt. Rod Grehek said. ``You wonder what was going
through his mind those last few seconds.''
If Anyone Needed Help, Kevin Was the First to Offer
Kevin C. Maher.--A grim reminder of one quake tragedy is
burned into the ground.
On a grassy patch at Murietta Avenue and Valleyheart Drive
in Sherman Oaks, two charred footprints show exactly where a
downed power line electrocuted Kevin C. Maher.
The line was dangling over a car with a young child inside;
the distraught mother stood nearby. Maher a 25-year-old
electrician who grew up in Ireland, ran back to his apartment
for tools. He ignored the warnings of others at the scene.
``People were yelling at him, `No! Don't touch it!''' said
James Pianezzola, 30, who saw the whole thing. ``He turned
around and said, `Don't worry, I'm an electrician.' But as
soon as he touched the line, his body went stiff as a
board.'' (The child was snatched from the car by another
onlooker.)
Maher, who was from Carrick-on-Shannon and never lost his
brogue after 10 years in the U.S., was hailed as a hero in
Ireland, his death making the front pages of the dailies back
home. In the San Fernando Valley, his friends recalled him as
a generous man who died doing what he always did.
If anyone needed help, Kevin was the first to offer,'' said
Paula Shields, a friend who lived in the same apartment
complex.
``The Irish community always comes together when something
like this happens,'' said Kathleen Harney, Maher's sister.
``We're all far away from home so we stick close together out
here.''
Couple Labored Hard to Earn Their House on the Hillside
Marc Yobs and Karen Osterholt.--Marc Yobs was going places.
Just ask anyone who knew him.
He was 32 and on top of his game. Good-looking, with a
caring way and easy grin, he had accomplished the nearly
impossible early in his career, getting a foot in the door
into Hollywood with nary a connection. Now, he was handling
some of the industry's biggest accounts for The Post Group,
which does sound and special effects for film. His bosses had
recently promoted him.
``There's a lot of phoniness and glad-handing in
Hollywood,'' said Kristen Ralph, the company president.
``Marc never had that kind of self-opinion. He was confident,
and very bright, and quite sure of his own abilities. But he
was not one of the let's-do-lunch types.''
Two years ago, Yobs bought the house of his dreams: a
$400,000 hillside home in Sherman Oaks, with a sweeping view
of the San Fernando Valley, where he grew up. He shared it
with Karen Osterholt, 30, his girlfriend of nine years.
The place was a showpiece. Yobs was meticulous about
maintaining it, as he was about everything else in his life.
Osterholt had a flair for decorating, and she filled it with
antiques. If he was the go-getter, she was the quiet power
behind him. She was with him when he had nothing, supporting
him with her earnings as a waitress while he struggled to
climb the Hollywood ladder.
The house made Waldrop nervous, no matter how many times
her daughter assured her it was safe. It was 30 years old and
had survived both the Sylmar and the Whittier Narrows quakes.
But fears of a temblor must have passed through Yobs' mind,
because a year ago he bought earthquake insurance.
In 10 seconds, it came crashing down, taking them with it.
They were to be buried side by side.
There is nothing left of the Sherwood Place house. It is a
pile of twisted metal and wood. The homes to the right and
left, built at the same time, by the same builder, according
to Dave Yobs, are still standing. Uninhabitable, but
standing. ``Why his house?'' Dave Yobs said tearfully. ``With
all those homes, why his?''
If There Is a Bright Spot . . . It's That They Went Together
Robert Pauline and Judith Ng.--When they met at Riverside
City College in the early 1970s, Robert (Sarge) Pauline had
just retired from a 20-year career with the Chula Vista
Police Department. Judith Ng, 30 years younger, was just out
of high school.
The couple married, beginning an eccentric life together.
``In the beginning the whole family was against the
situation,'' said one of Ng's brothers, Kenneth. ``We
thought: `What was this old guy doing with our sister?' But
over the years, we've come to love him like family. It was
unique but it was right for them.''
The couple squirreled themselves away in their Van Nuys
home, inviting neither friends nor family inside. In this
neat suburban neighborhood, they had shrubs and vines
shielding their house from the street. Inside, their living
quarters were unconventional as well.
They were avid collectors. Everywhere, there were stacks of
old letters, out-of-date calendars, model trains, stereo
equipment and cameras.
When the earthquake hit, neighbors and relatives became
concerned about the mysterious pair. Their house survived but
there was no word from Ng, 42, or Pauline, 72. The next day,
authorities entered their Kittridge Street home and
discovered the couple in bed, crushed by hundreds of pounds
of their own collectibles.
``If there is a bright spot to this,'' said Ng's sister,
Kathy Ng Norwood, ``it's that they went together.''
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. This article describes the victims, Mr. President,
who lost their lives in the initial hours of the earthquake. Everybody
knows somebody who was affected; 57 people died, but among them was a
4-year-old by the name of Amy Tyre-Vigil. Her father described the
weekend before the earthquake as ``a beautiful weekend.'' He had taken
Amy on a bike ride. The whole family had gone to the zoo. Amy had
sampled her first meatball Sunday night. Amy's parents had chatted
happily about the future, about a second baby, a boy, on the way, about
the new house they were going to buy once their Sherman Oaks home sold,
and that was gone in an instant on Monday. Amy was crushed to death
when the earthquake sent her home hurtling down a hillside, collapsing
the home into a flattened wreck of wood and stucco, tile and glass.
For the victims of the earthquake, for the parents of 4-year-old Amy
Tyre-Vigil, the time for action is now. I look forward to working with
my colleague, Senator Boxer, and my colleagues in the Senate of the
United States, on the Federal Government's response to set a new
standard for all future emergency recovery efforts. I thank all of
those from Washington who have cared so much about the State of
California and responded so positively.
I thank the Chair and I yield the floor.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the order, the Senator from
California [Mrs. Boxer] is recognized for not to exceed 10 minutes.
____________________