Damage from the Oct. 15 earthquakes has almost tripled repair costs at the Honolulu District Court.

The state had already started work on roof repairs at the Alakea Street courthouse, when the 6.7 and 6.0 magnitude quake caused further structural damage.

Now cost estimates have jumped about $400,000 and the current estimate is at about $630,000, with more inspections left to go.

"We had started a roof repair project prior to the earthquake," said Iris Murayama, deputy chief court administrator. "The roof already had some cracks and some leaks."

The original scope of the project included some epoxy work prior to reroofing.

However, "after the earthquake, we found all these other cracks," Murayama said. "Some of these are brand-new."

The courthouse still needs to be inspected by the state Department of Accounting and General Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency before it comes up with a firm estimate.

The current damage estimate only includes further roof damage; the rest of the building still needs to be assessed.

A cursory inspection by the Federal Emergency Management Agency immediately following the earthquake put the damages at $700,000 or more.

State Sen. Clayton Hee, who was recently named chairman of the Judiciary Committee, toured the building yesterday to get a better idea of the extent of the damage.

The earthquakes, which were centered off the Kohala Coast of the Big Island, caused an estimated $200 million in damages, as well as an islandwide power outage on O'ahu.

As of last week, $20 million in federal loans and grants had been given to families, individuals and business owners, but a bid for $19 million in agricultural aid was turned down by the U.S. Senate a week ago.