HILO, Hawai'i — The destruction to homes and infrastructure from the Oct. 15 earthquakes off the Big Island's west coast likely will top $200 million, according to a report from a team of UH civil engineers.

But the team also concluded the damage was relatively light for magnitude 6.7 and 6.0 temblors because many of the affected areas are lightly populated. By comparison, the magnitude 6.7 Northridge earthquake in 1994 did $17.4 billion in damage in the Los Angeles area, according to the report.

Also, many Big Island homes may have been protected from more severe damage by building code requirements meant to guard against hurricanes, the team said.

The findings by three faculty members from the University of Hawai'i-Manoa Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering on damage from the earthquakes were released yesterday.

As of close of business yesterday, 414 Big Island property owners had registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a first step in obtaining federal disaster assistance, said James Shebl, public affairs officer for FEMA.

Shebl said 51 people visited the disaster relief center that opened at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort & Spa yesterday, and another 108 went to another center at the Waimea YMCA.

After the first day of operating the centers, federal officials plan to add staff members who are experts in earthquake damage mitigation to respond to many inquiries from residents who want to prevent future damage, he said.

"That is really good that they're interested and want that information, so we're pretty excited," he said.

The UH engineering team noted that "tens of thousands" of light-framed wood homes near the epicenters of the earthquakes had "virtually no damage," and said sheer walls and other design features meant to protect against hurricanes may have helped.

Most of the homes that did have severe damage had pier-type supports resting on small, loose concrete foundation blocks, which the report described as "substandard foundations."

"Longer duration or more intense ground shaking would likely have caused significantly more damage to residential structures elevated on pier-and-beam framing," the report concluded.

The report also sounded the alarm about the use of fill material under both the Kawaihae and Hilo Harbor facilities, warning that some of the millions of dollars in damage at the Kawaihae facility was caused when dredged fill under the shipping container yard "liquified" during the earthquake.

That caused the piers to shift and the asphalt surface of the yard to drop, and caused large cracks in Pier 1, according to the report. Pier 1 remained closed to heavy cargo this week, although part of Pier 2 was reopened for barge traffic.

There was no earthquake damage at Hilo Harbor, but the report warned much of the Hilo facility is also built on dredged fill.

"Remedial measures should be taken to replace or stabilize any fill material with liquefaction potential in critical harbor facilities to avoid loss of function of either of these ports during future earthquakes," according to the report.

Scott Ishikawa, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said state officials will consider that issue when they make repairs at Kawaihae.

The use of dredged fill at Hilo Harbor will also be studied, he said.

"It's something we're going to have to look at, because obviously some part of the (Kawaihae) pier did settle," Ishikawa said.

Experts are planning to take core samples of the earth under the Kawaihae piers next week to determine the extent of the damage, and to gather information about the fill underneath, he said.

Also yesterday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced it will deploy a team of eight dam safety specialists to survey dams in the wake of the earthquakes.

The Army Corps of Engineers will work with FEMA and state Department of Land and Natural Resources to inspect 84 high-hazard dams starting tomorrow, with the inspections conducted over two weeks.

Initial inspections on the Big Island and Maui have been completed by non-corps resources. However, Big Island dams will be re-inspected by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The federal Bureau of Reclamation will complete Maui dam inspections today and no further inspections of Maui dams will be conducted by the corps.

Five corps geotechnical engineers will inspect Kaua'i dams, while three corps geotechnical engineers will survey the Big Island dams and then the O'ahu dams.

The inspections will be conducted in accordance with the "Hawaii Dam Safety Guidelines: Seismic Analysis & Post-Earthquake Inspections," which can viewed on the state DLNR Web site at www.hawaii.gov/dlnr/ under Dam Safety Program.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.