Central Coast Enclaves Assess Quake Losses

CAMBRIA, Calif. —  While officials surveying damage from Monday’s magnitude 6.5 earthquake have focused much of their attention on the loss of life and crumbling brick buildings in the Paso Robles area, Central Coast enclaves are coping with their own damage.

Cambria art galleries have broken art work in bins, waiting for insurance estimates. The only gas station in the beach town of Cayucos is closed because of wall cracks, and whole residential streets in Oceano remain without water because of broken water mains.

In Morro Bay, at least 13 mobile homes were damaged at Blue Heron Mobile Home Park; some were thrown completely off their supports.

“Some of the others tipped sideways,” said Kay Ash, Blue Heron’s manager and an accountant who returned to the park from her office to assist other residents. “Mine just fell straight down. Maybe the stands blew out. I don’t really know.”

Monday’s quake was six miles northeast of San Simeon, near Hearst Castle, and 10 miles north of Cambria. But it caused the most devastation in downtown Paso Robles, which is 39 miles southeast of the epicenter.

Two women died trying to escape an unreinforced masonry building at the Paso Robles town square, and 40 people suffered mostly minor injuries.

Friends and family gathered Saturday in King City for the funeral of Jennifer Myrick, 20, of Atascadero. She worked at Ann’s Dress Shop with Marilyn Zafuto, 55, of Paso Robles, who also died. Myrick turned 20 just four days before her death. She was engaged and planning to marry in April.

Estimates for damage and reconstruction in Paso Robles alone are above $100 million, with county officials saying they expect damage estimates for the entire county to top $200 million.

City officials have emergency vehicles and engineers keeping vigil at a mud hot spring that erupted after the quake in the City Hall parking lot. The hole is about 130 feet from the back door to City Hall. “We’re calling it the employee spa,” said Paso Robles Police Sgt. Bob Adams.

The northern reaches of San Luis Obispo County are divided by the Santa Lucia Mountains, where the original quake and hundreds of aftershocks have been centered. Going north from the city of San Luis Obispo, U.S. 101 continues up to Paso Robles, while California 1 splits off to serve Cambria and San Simeon.

Most of the coastal communities have wood-frame buildings, whose structures were not severely damaged. But the contents of those same buildings were another story.

Seekers Glass Gallery has two storefronts in the East Village of Cambria, where it has garnered a reputation during its 23-year history as a leading vendor of fine art glass.

But Monday’s quake hit Seekers hard, with an estimated 50% of the inventory lost, said owner Michael G. Adelson.

“We estimate about $150,000 worth of glass was destroyed,” he said Saturday. “We have a $50,000 deductible, so it hurts.”

The loss is purely his, he said, because he and his wife buy the merchandise from artists and then turn around and sell it. “We think of it as our collection,” he said. “We are not a consignment gallery.”

At Soto’s Market, about a block away in Cambria, much of the merchandise was on the floor after the quake.

“We had glass just sticking out of our tennis shoes after walking around,” said Tom Hanley, who bought Soto’s just 2 1/2 years ago.

He had pictures showing everything down on the ground.

“I’m going to have a New Year’s Eve Earthquake Wine Sale,” he said. “We had so much wine fall that even the ones which didn’t break have scratched up or wine-stained labels. The wine is still perfectly good though.”

Morro Bay suffered scattered losses, said Mayor Bill Yates: One house lost its chimney and some mobile homes fell off their foundations.

Damage was extensive for liquor and wine vendors, “and it really hit the places which sell art glass,” Yates said.

He expects Morro Bay’s damage to easily top $2 million.

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Associated Press contributed to this report.