Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 30, 1994 TAG: 9401300085
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
But the strongest quake to hit the city in 10 days was not enough to impede recovery efforts, as detours were opened around collapsed freeways and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala announced she was making available an additional $28 million in federal aid.
Inspecting damage from the 6.6-magnitude earthquake that struck the region on Jan. 17, Shalala also said she had persuaded the Treasury Department to issue thousands of Social Security checks a week earlier than usual to ensure that the elderly receive their benefits on time.
"We are taking very rigid federal programs and we are making them flexible," she said. "We can't do everything by the book in a disaster."
The day's developments included:
The barrage of aftershocks - nine greater than magnitude 3.0 were recorded in a seven-hour period Saturday morning - knocked out street lights in Santa Monica, snapped water mains in the San Fernando Valley and crumbled what was left of a four-story parking structure that was to have been demolished.
Seeking to crack down on fraud, Los Angeles County welfare officials began imposing a three-day waiting period for emergency food stamps and said all offices would be closed today while they set up a computer system to help weed out bogus claims.
The state Department of Health Services and the Department of Water and Power announced that all water in Los Angeles is now safe to drink. Residents had been warned to boil water immediately after the Jan. 17 quake.
Although more than 5,000 people remained at 31 Red Cross shelters, the population at five Salvation Army tent cities had dwindled to less than 600 and National Guard troops began dismantling the encampments. The aftershocks sent some recently departed campers scurrying back to the shelters.
by CNB