The shock waves from Sunday's earthquakes caused at least $40 million in damage to the Big Island, with seven schools alone accounting for $30 million worth of the destruction.

But federal and Big Island officials cautioned yesterday that the assessment will undoubtedly rise as the damage adds up in the days ahead. Big Island Mayor Harry Kim yesterday predicted that the dollar estimates will "grow tremendously."

The damage included the $3 million to $5 million suffered by the Big Island's power grid when the earthquakes knocked out service to about 45,000 customers, Hawaii Electric Light Co. President Warren Lee said.

Fanny AuHoy, administrator for the historic Hulihe'e Palace at Kailua, Kona, was bracing yesterday for the cost and extent of the damage to the two-story palace, which houses artifacts dating to the days before Western contact.

Several items, such as writing desks belonging to Princess Ruth and Queen Kapi'olani, were among those damaged in the shaking. Large hunks of plaster and molding also fell from the walls and ceiling, AuHoy said.

"We didn't fare too well," she said.

Her bigger fear is that the palace suffered more serious structural damage that cannot be easily seen until an engineer conducts a survey.

Jo-Anne Kahanamoku, curator of the Kealakowa'a heiau built by chief Umi Ai Liloa in the 16th century, saw some of the 14-foot-tall walls in ruins following Sunday's quakes.

"I was devastated," she said.

Serious damage also was reported to Kawaihae Harbor, which normally handles about 60 percent of the cargo containers arriving and departing from the Big Island but remained closed yesterday.

Preliminary estimates put the cost of repairs to the two Kawaihae piers at $5 million.

"The harbor was as close to the epicenter as you can get, so it took the brunt of the quake," said Scott Ishikawa, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.

VERY FEW INJURIES

U.S. Sens. Daniel Akaka and Daniel Inouye, both Hawai'i Democrats, toured the Big Island yesterday by military helicopter and saw the damage to Kawaihae Harbor.

Both pledged to secure federal disaster assistance.

"We are so happy that there are no deaths," Akaka said. "And we've had very few injuries. ... For that, we're fortunate."

Inouye said he was pleased with the state's response to the earthquakes.

"When I consider that our communication system came to a sudden halt, it (the response) was magnificent,' he said. "And I must say the governor did well."

Asked about problems at Ho-nolulu International Airport, including the inability to electronically screen some passengers, the absence of jetways and flight cancellations, Inouye said "it's easy to be a Monday morning quarterback."

HOSPITALS DAMAGED

Big Island Civil Defense officials estimated repairs to the county's water and sewer systems at $2 million. Four Big Island hospitals also had $250,000 worth of damage.

Preliminary estimates indicated that county roads and bridges will need to be repaired at a cost of $1.55 million.

Larry Kanda, emergency planner for state Civil Defense, was working with county officials to compile damage estimates yesterday that will be used to seek a federal disaster declaration from President Bush. He hoped to have a report submitted to federal authorities by Thursday or Friday, and said civil defense officials "feel confident" the earthquakes will meet the requirements for a federal disaster declaration.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency had three workers on the island inspecting damage in the Kona area yesterday along with a member of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. More FEMA workers are expected to arrive today, Kanda said.

A land and rock slide into Kealakekua Bay near the Captain Cook monument sent up "a huge dust cloud over the bay," and state officials will have to inspect the area for possible environmental damage, said Deborah Ward, spokeswoman for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

"We need to take a look at that as soon as we can," Ward said.

The U.S. Geological Survey yesterday, meanwhile, upgraded the magnitude of the earthquakes to 6.7 and 6.0.

In the 24 hours that followed, the U.S. Geological Survey recorded 80 aftershocks registering at magnitudes of at least 1.7.

The first earthquake struck at 7:07 a.m. Sunday and was originally reported as a 6.5 magnitude quake, later upgraded to 6.6. and then 6.7.

The 6.0 quake was originally reported at a magnitude of between 5.5 and 5.8. It hit at 7:14 a.m. about 13 miles northwest of Kawaihae at a depth of 12 miles.

Officials originally said that neither quake generated a tsunami. But the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center yesterday said the first and largest quake produced a 4-inch tsunami that was measured by Kawaihae Harbor's tide gauge at 7:17 a.m.

Tsunamis are generated by sizable disruption to the ocean floor and Sunday's quakes were so deep that the first one managed only the tiny wave that hit Kawaihae Harbor, said Gerard Fryer, a geophysicist at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

O'AHU POWER OUTAGE

While the Big Island suffered the brunt of the damage, most of O'ahu did not have full power until 1:55 a.m. yesterday. Small pockets of O'ahu still lacked service last night.

Traffic signals still did not work at about 60 intersections, including ones along Nimitz Highway, Ala Moana Boulevard, Kalakaua Avenue and King Street.

The city's Department of Transportation Services said it would not meet its goal of having all signals fully operational before yesterday's pau hana rush-hour.

Traffic lights have to be manually reset after a power outage and some had to be completely reprogrammed yesterday.

As O'ahu tried to return to normal, thousands of people reflected on what they had survived — and how well they survived it.

Don Crescimano, the resident manager of a senior-citizens building in Kaka'ako, used butane fuel and camp stoves to cook stew for the 75 tenants in the building's recreation room — "all out of his own generous pocket," said resident Lori Allen.

Dana West of Nanakuli had a generator, stove and ice and told people, "don't take it for granted to get things ready. You never know when we're going to get hit again."

Keolahou Lee of Wai'anae agreed.

"This is our wake-up call," Lee said. "We are not prepared."

NO PRICE GOUGING

The State Office of Consumer Protection has looked into a handful of complaints about price gouging but found no evidence.

"We've gotten a few inquiries but nothing that has panned out yet," said Steve Levins, executive director of the Hawai'i Office of Consumer Protection. "It's not inconceivable, but there hasn't appeared to be price gouging on its face.

"People's emotions are high and their stress level is high," Levins said. "It says a lot for the people of Hawai'i that we have not seen the problems that have arisen in other areas like Florida during Hurricane Andrew."

State law provides penalties ranging from $500 to $10,000 per violation.

Anyone with a complaint, should call Levins office at 587-3222.

PROBE OF OUTAGE

Gov. Linda Lingle said the Public Utilities Commission would be briefed by Hawaiian Electric Co., Inc. about the cause of the massive power failure on O'ahu and a more detailed investigation could follow.

State Sens. J. Kalani English, D-6th (E. Maui, Moloka'i, Lana'i), and Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Hawai'i Kai), said they spoke with PUC officials who agreed to conduct an investigation on the blackout and report to the state Legislature at the beginning of next session.

"The people of Hawai'i have a right to know why they were left without electrical power for so long — and why our power grid is so vulnerable," English said.

The PUC has agreed to investigate the loss of power on the other islands, state lawmakers said today.

Ed Teixeira, vice director for state Civil Defense, said the Tesoro refineries had to be shut down because of the power blackout and it would take four days to resume operations. Company officials want to inspect the facility. But there are adequate fuel reserves and no shortages anticipated, he said.

O'ahu's blackout also caused an estimated 52,000 gallons of partially treated wastewater to bypass one of the treatment steps at the Kailua Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The wastewater did not go through the bio-tower but it did receive all the other treatments, said Mark Matsunaga, city spokesman.

Matsunaga said he didn't know why the incident wasn't reported the same day but said workers were focusing on the Sand Island plant once the Kailua situation was under control.

"Quite frankly, at that point everybody was more concerned about making sure Sand Island didn't go down because we were down to one generator," he said. "There was no backup if that generator had failed."

Despite earlier reports, Kaua'i did not have any power outages associated with Sunday's earthquakes, said Anne Barnes, spokeswoman for the Kaua'i Island Utility Cooperative.

"There was no disruption at all due to the earthquake," Barnes said. "We had no outages. We had a beautiful day. We were thrilled."

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com and Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.