Quake damage assessed at $200M

Damage from the Oct. 15 earthquakes off the Big Island could exceed $200 million, according to an assessment by a team of University of Hawaii engineers.

But the engineers also said that the damage wasn't as bad as it could have been. Building standards designed to protect timber homes from hurricane damage also limited damage for thousands of homes from the earthquakes, the engineers said.

On the Net » The full UH report about the earthquake can be viewed online at www.cee.hawaii.edu

Still, more than 1,800 homes were damaged, and many buildings will need repairs to ceilings, light-fixtures, plumbing and other utility lines.

In a 65-page report released Friday, the engineers detailed damages on the Big Island to homes, harbors, dams, buildings, roads and bridges from Kailua-Kona to Hilo that were caused by the magnitude-6.7 quake and aftershocks.

Their cost estimate is significantly lower than the $17.8 billion in damages experienced in California following the 1994 Northridge earthquake in the Los Angeles, which was also 6.7 in magnitude.

However, the Northridge earthquake occurred in an densely populated urban setting, and the Big Island temblors affected mostly rural areas.

The report stressed a need to repair Kawaiahae Harbor and discover whether Hilo Harbor needs any work, since they serve as the only two ports capable of handling traffic coming from Honolulu Harbor.

Also, two dams on the Waimea-Kamuela area that were drained a week ago suffered cracks along their crests.

Engineers noted cracks 2 to 4 inches wide and up to 2 feet deep in Waikoloa Reservoir 2 as a result of severe shaking. A water treatment plant below the Waikoloa reservoirs suffered ruptured pipes and shifting of concrete. Reservoir 1 fared better, with some damage to its concrete lining, while the Puu Pulehu reservoir developed "significant cracking" on its crest, according to the report.

In addition, irrigation ditches feeding some of the reservoirs also were blocked by debris, the report found.

The team of scientists included professors Peter G. Nicholson and Horst G. Brandes, who are geotechnical engineers, and Ian N. Robertson, a structural engineer.

Yesterday, an additional 84 Big Island residents registered for disaster assistance yesterday at centers in Waimea and Kona, bringing the total number of registrations to 668, said Greg Hughes, spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The disaster centers opened Friday.