The magnitude-8.1 earthquake that rocked Guam caused $109 million in damage, far less than preliminary estimates predicting losses topping the $250 million in devastation caused by Typhoon Omar.
No one died in the quake Sunday and there were just 50 injuries, mostly minor, on the western Pacific island with 133,000 inhabitants.Guam Civil Defense head Joe Terlage originally said damage would be worse than Omar, which hit Aug. 27, 1992, with 155 mph winds, destroying 2,000 homes.
But complete field assessments showed much less destruction than anticipated, Civil Defense spokesman Carl Gumataotao said today.
The quake severely damaged three hotels in the Tumon Bay resort area, and they accounted for $90 million in damage, Gumataotao said. Other hotels suffered little damage and remained open. Residential areas escaped serious damage.
Most of the island remained without electricity or water service today, and the best-case scenario had some power being restored by daybreak Wednesday, said Gumataotao.
Power was up for about half the island but went out again after transformer and generator problems. The loss of power also cut off water service, since electricity is needed to operate the system.
Some areas without power were using generators to keep water service going, said Gumataotao. The National Guard was summoned to set up water tankers in other areas. Officials reminded residents to treat or boil tap water.
Mark Forbes, spokesman for Guam Gov. Joseph Ada, said since the quake caused no deaths, few injuries and left no one homeless, the governor questioned the U.S. government's decision to send a Federal Emergency Management Agency official from Honolulu.
Ada has no plans to request a federal disaster declaration because insurance companies and the Small Business Administration can cover most of the losses, Forbes said.