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The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 11:06 a.m., Friday, October 20, 2006

'Iolani Palace suffered quake damage

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

Pre-existing cracks around a second-floor skylight at 'Iolani Palace and in the palace's administration building grew longer from Sunday's earthquakes and an architect will check for potentially more serious damage today.

The palace was closed to the public as usual on Sunday when 'Iolani Palace staff investigated it for damage and saw that the cracks in both the palace and the old archive building, known as the Kanaina Building, had grown longer.

Asked about the new length of the cracks, palace executive director Kippen de Alba Chu said "most of them are in the inches."

A historic architect who has been surveying earthquake damage on the Big Island is scheduled to inspect the palace today, de Alba Chu said.

Palace staff have been checking the buildings' pipes for possible leakage and the exterior areas for further damage but so far have found nothing, de Alba Chu said.

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.