Barbara and I live in co-op apartment building in Seattle's Capitol Hill district (about ten minutes drive from downtown). It's a beautiful old building four-story stone and brick building that was built in 1910.

Normal day until about 10:54 a.m. Barbara was at work at the library and I was sitting at the computer, cruising through cyberspace (lurking on Mudcat threads, in fact), when I thought for a moment I was having a touch of vertigo just as a couple of heavy-footed galoots were stomping down the stairs just outside our door. But it kept going -- and got worse! Several severe jolts, then the whole building began creaking and groaning as it swayed back and forth like a tree in the wind. When I woke up to the fact that it was an earthquake, it occurred to me that this could be The Big One they keep talking about. Nine-point-something or other. At one point I began to wonder if the whole building was about to land in my lap and I don't mind admitting that I was scared spitless! Suddenly the lights went out and the computer died. I wheeled (I'm in a wheelchair) into the doorway out of our apartment and contemplated going outside, but I didn't fancy the thought of an avalanche of bricks down my neck, so I stayed in the doorway, which, they say, is what one is supposed to do. The chandelier in the lobby was swinging back and forth pretty violently and I began to wonder if it was ever going to stop. Finally it seemed to ebb away. Later on, various news reports said that it lasted anywhere from fifteen to forty-five seconds, but it sure felt longer to me. I think that the building kept swaying after the quake stopped. In the latest reports, most geologist said it lasted about forty-five seconds

Once it settled down, a couple of guys from upstairs came dashing down the stairs to see if I was all right. Then they went to check the rest of the building for gas leaks and things like that. Lights were out, but everything else seemed to be okay. Not bad for a ninety-one year-old building. But then, this old pile has ridden out several bad ones.

The lights were out in most of the apartments, but our kitchen lights were on (refrigerator and stove didn't work, but the microwave did). Barbara came home shortly thereafter. The library sustained some damage, so they sent everybody home. Barbara had a co-worker with her. We sat around in the kitchen and wiped our brows and the co-worker made a couple of phone calls. She has an elderly neighbor she was worried about. We had some lunch, then Barbara drove her home (she lived out in the Shoreline district, north of Seattle).

The lights were out for most of the day. I could understand it if it were a general power outage, but some lights were on, and I heard that some of the other apartment buildings in the neighborhood had the same situation. It turns out we're on a "three phase" system, whatever that is, and two of the phases were out. Seattle City Light got the power restored later in the evening. Barbara and I spent most of the afternoon and evening listening to people calling the local public radio station and telling their experiences. Then, when the power came on, we caught the news on television.

Seattle apparently did pretty well with its emergency preparedness program , its building codes, and retro-fitting older buildings for earthquakes, because most of them survived without damage (ironically, on the same day, George W. planned to ask Congress to cut funding for the program!). But some didn't fare so well. No major building collapses or anything like that, but some buildings sustained damage, as did some bridges and overpasses. Most of the damage seemed to be in the Pioneer Square area (brick and stone facings falling off and some structural damage), and Starbucks' headquarters building, on an area of landfill, took a major hit. It's going to be awhile before they get all the damage assessed. I think Tacoma and Olympia had more problems than Seattle did. Severe damage to the state capitol building and the governor's mansion has some structural damage. Gary the Gov, Mona, and the kids had to stay with relatives.

The reports said that it was a subduction zone earthquake -- the Juan de Fuca plate sliding under the North American plate. The epicenter was about eleven miles north of Olympia and about thirty miles down. Felt from Oregon to British Columbia, and as far east as Western Montana. 6.8, which makes it one of the three biggies within the last half-century ('49, '65, and this one). I've been here for all three.

As far as we can tell, our building survived unscathed, but I'm pretty sure we're going to have it thoroughly inspected. Other than being a bit shook up, we're okay. But we're still feeling a bit hyper.

And Mousethief, I heard on the news a little while ago that SeaTac, which they said normally handles about forty landings per hour, is currently handling about twenty-five. The control tower was trashed, so flight control is operating out of a double-wide trailer. You'll probably have a more up-to-date report shortly.

Glad everyone's okay!

Don Firth