The day after the California earthquake, a straw poll of computer companies in the Los Angeles area suggests that most would be back on their feet by the end of the week. One unexpected casualty was Oracle Corp. Its Redwood Shores home was well out of range, but the company was planning a snazzy satellite broadcast event from Hollywood to unveil its Media Server product. The US announcement has been put back until February though the UK launch will still take place tomorrow. About 40 miles from the epicentre, Camarillo-based Vitesse Semiconductor Corp says that its Gallium Arsenide fabrication plant survived any major damage, despite being shaken up. Vice-president of engineering Ira Deyhimy describes the fab as being in pretty good condition, largely thanks to the isolating bases that protect the sensitive equipment from vibration. He hopes to have the plant operating in a matter of days while acknowledging that it is too early to say whether the mask-making equipment, with its sub-micron tolerances have been knocked out of true. The only major physical damage to the factory, he said, occurred in a support area where a tank of acid ruptured. Candle Corp, based in the heart of Los Angeles was closed yesterday, more or less deserted except for a switchboard operator who said that it was likely to be back in business today. Skeleton staff were also working at networking company Retix Inc, of Santa Monica. It says it will be a couple of days before it will be open for business: police were initially keeping employees out of the area due to possible external damage to nearby buildings. Other firms in the area include Packard Bell Electronics Inc in Chatsworth and El Camino Resources Inc in Northridge. The death toll had risen to 33 when we closed yesterday.
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