Recovery advanced into its second week for an earthquake-rattled region feeling an aftershock of numbers _ a stronger Richter reading, a 50-50 chance of a new jolt and an infusion of relief money.
Nine people remain missing, and the death toll from the Oct. 17 temblor climbed to 63 with a coroner's discovery of a 39th victim from double-decked Interstate 880 in Oakland.The state Office of Emergency Services reported Wednesday that 13,892 people have been left homeless, nearly double the previous figure.
The first damage claim against the state was filed by two motorists injured in the collapse.
In Congress Wednesday, the Senate was expected to approve a House-passed bill that would send $2.85 billion to Northern California. Damage estimates have been set at $7.1 billion, making it the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.
"We were hit by 10 times the amount of explosive power of World War II, including the atomic bomb," said Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who represents San Francisco's hard-hit Marina district.
Santa Cruz County got a $356,460 check from state Controller Gray Davis on Tuesday. The check is 75 percent of the money the county already has spent on earthquake response.
Church bells tolled at 5:04 p.m., one week to the minute after the quake. It packed more punch than first thought, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, which upped the magnitude to 7.1 from 6.9 on the Richter scale after checking 18 seismic stations around the world.
The homeless figure climbed after rain forced many into shelters, where county officials are compiling counts of those displaced, according to OES spokeswoman Nancy Sutton.
A geologist warned that because of the recent rain, huge sections of land in Santa Cruz County cracked by earthquake fissures are in danger of sliding this winter and burying hundreds of homes.
"What's happening today is frightening to geologists who have looked at it," Professor Gary Griggs of the University of California, Santa Cruz, told county supervisors Tuesday. "I think there's a cause for alarm, but not instant alarm until we've
Jumpy residents also were told that there is a 50-50 chance of a 5.0 aftershock during the next two months, and there is an 11 percent shot of a 6.0 shock. A 5.0 Richter reading can cause considerable damage; 6.0 can be severe, especially to buildings already weakened.
An aftershock of 4.5 was registered at 6:27 p.m. Tuesday, the latest of about 3,500 aftershocks since Oct. 17.
"I'm still shook up. Every time I hear a noise I jump," said Ela Mae Douglas, owner of a soul food cafe near I-880.
And for all the death and destruction, Elizabeth Patrice Cupples celebrated her first week of life. She was born at 5:03 p.m. on Oct. 17 by Ceasarean section, and doctors shielded her mother by leaning over the incision.
"You were born and the earth moved," said her father, James, who was at his wife's side in the delivery room of Santa Cruz Community Hospital.
In Oakland, crews were taking down sections of I-880. They fear that still-standing sections of the state's first elevated freeway could topple like dominoes onto the 1 1/4-mile stretch that crumpled.
Four sections remain inaccessible, and the search for more bodies was delayed until at least Thursday because the road is too shaky. Authorities have abandoned hope of finding anyone alive in the rubble.
Workers, meanwhile, removed the section of the lower deck of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge on Tuesday. It will take at least a month to rebuild the five-lane, 50-foot pieces. The hole in the 53-year-old bridge is as gaping as the hole in the area's transportation system.
Without the bridge and key sections of devastated highways, transit officials have jury-rigged a jammed commuter system with extra trains, ferries and other alternatives.
Inconvenienced commuters abandoned their cars and took to public transportation in record numbers. The Bay Area Rapid Transit by 9 a.m. Tuesday set a weekday ridership record with 99,135, 4,300 more than the previous day.
San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos called on the federal government to raise the maximum home rebuilding loan to $500,000 from $100,000 because of the high housing costs in the region.
"One-hundred thousand dollars in South Carolina can make a big difference. It doesn't here," Agnos said.
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Today's quake picture
-DAMAGE - Estimate of total damage stands at $7.1 billion, according to reports from state, city, county and federal officials. That would make the Oct. 17 earthquake the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history, based on Independent Insurance Agents of America records.
-CASUALTIES - The death toll rose to 63 Tuesday when a 39th victim of the Nimitz Freeway (I-880) collapse in Oakland was identified. Only nine people, out of 280 who had been reported missing, remain unaccounted for, authorities said.
The total number of people injured, listed as more than 4,000 previously, was lowered to about 3,000 on Tuesday. But the California Association of Hospitals reports that 3,286 people were treated at hospitals. The condition of Buck Helm, 57, improved Tuesday from very serious to serious. Helm, in an Oakland hospital with injuries sustained in the collapse of the freeway, was trapped four days in his car under the debris.
-THE QUAKE AND AFTERSHOCKS - The earthquake hit at 5:04 p.m. PDT, registered 7.1 on the Richter scale - updated Tuesday from 6.9. It was centered on the San Andreas Fault 15 miles northeast of Santa Cruz - moved Tuesday one mile farther northeast - and 56 miles south of San Francisco in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
More than 3,500 aftershocks have been recorded, including one of 5.2 that came 40 minutes after the initial quake. At 6:27 p.m. on Tuesday, the strongest aftershock in four days, with a Richter scale reading of 4.5, rattled the area.
-FEDERAL AND STATE ASSISTANCE - A House bill for $2.85 billion in federal relief was passed Tuesday on a 321-99 vote and sent to the Senate after the White House announced support for the package. President Bush toured the area Friday and later signed a disaster relief declaration for seven counties and authorized an initial $273 million.
A special session of the California Legislature will be called to consider a temporary increase in sales or gasoline tax to finance relief, Gov. George Deukmejian says.
-HIGHWAY CLOSURES - With several missing links in the highway system, most notably the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and a stretch of I-880 in Oakland, most commuters face longer and slower rides to and from work. Target date for completion of repairs on the bridge is Nov. 16, and rebuilding of I-880 will take much longer.
-QUAKE HOTLINES - The San Francisco Earthquake and Relief Assistance Hotline is 1-900-500-HELP. It offers callers news updates, American Red Cross information such as shelter locations and blood banks, status of transportation and utility systems, state and federal government information and survival tips. The service, operated by Starbridge Communications Co. of Los Angeles in conjunction with AT&T, can handle 28,000 calls a minute and each call costs $5, with proceeds donated to the Red Cross.
The Red Cross number for general information, including inquiries about quake victims, is 1-800-544-8858. The Red Cross number to make donations is 1-800-453-9000.