jsut coming out on CNN. Hope for the best.
Well, I know there has been some damage to some buildings in Seattle, but I haven’t heard how much. Northwest Cable News has been covering the quake for about half an hour now, and I still haven’t seen them show where the epicenter was. At one point they said “south of Seattle”, but then they said “south of Tacoma”.
I am south of Seattle myself, and it was pretty inense. On the news they said the tremblor lasted 15 seconds, but I swear, it felt much longer than that. I have felt several mild quakes since I have been living in this area, and this one was not mild. -no major damage here, though.
JW
Reports indicate that a 6.4 - 6.9 quake occured about ten miles from Olympia, Washington in the puget lowlands. This was about ten miles below the surface on the San Juan de Fuca subduction zone on the pacific northwest coast.
There have also been rumors of a second quake in the vicinity of Corvallis, Oregon but these have yet to be confirmed. Shocks were felt up to 700 miles away in Salt Lake City. Fortunately, such deep seated disruptions do not have aftershocks as often as those closer to the surface.
Please hope the best for all of our members in these regions. I have emailed Bumbazine (Portland, Oregon) and inquired as to his family’s well being.
That’s one way to split up MicroSoft!
Ahh, the good old Midwest, where we don’t have many earthquakes, mudslides, no tidal waves, no volcanos, no hurricanes. So nice and stable. Hope people are ok over there in the North West.
Just got this E from a friend in Portland, Wash.:
“We just had a 6.4 earthquake! It was centered 35 miles south of Seattle, yet our building here in Portland was really shaking. We were all in doorways. Lasted a long time, about 20 seconds.”
Evidently, the quake hit about fifteen minutes into a speech to educators by Bill Gates.
I wonder if he got the message?
12 people have been admitted to Seattle area emergency rooms. Three are in serious condition with the others undetermined. There are no reports of any loss of life. The quake’s duration was approximately 30 to 45 seconds and is being estimated as being a 7.0 from the Golden, Colorado monitoring center. The Portland, Oregon area experienced about 20 seconds of movement as well.
New reports indicate that the Capitol dome in Olympia has been cracked as well. The ferry terminal in Seattle has sustained major damage. There does not appear to be much damage to any of the freeway structures in the Seattle area.
There was also a 5.4 quake in the Capitol of El Salvador today as well. This represents the third quake in thirty day for this Central American region. Experts state that these two events are not related.
Fox news said it was upgraded to a 7.0. The pictures they were showing did not look very severe though (vs. quake damage shown in the past from L.A. and S.F.)
Just YESTERDAY I told a couple of my co-workers that I would love to live in Seattle. That I love the area and that they don’t seem to have the earthquakes we have here in Utah. But then I said (be ready to be impressed). . . something along the lines of “But they’re probably overdue for a big one anyway.” YESTERDAY! I said this YESSSSSS-TERRRRRR-DAAAAAAAAAAAY! YESTERDAY.
I’m thinking of quiting my job and take my new tallent of ESPer/earthquake predictor/psychic on the road.
I was on the phone with a customer service rep. for a computer company based in Portland, OR. In the middle of assisting me, he asked if he could put me on hold and then about 45 seconds came back on the line and said, “Excuse me, we just had an earthquake. Where were we?” and proceeded to finish helping me.
Now that’s a dedicated employee!
I’ll take our droughts and hurricanes here in Florida over an earthquake any day.
Ironic, isn’t it? It’s raining in L.A. and Seattle has an earthquake.
Diane: I still want to move to Washington!
Estimates now determine that the epicenter of the quake was up to 25 to 30 miles beneath the surface of the earth. This depth has helped to quell any fears of a tsumani hitting the West coast. The time of occurrence was 10:55 AM. Present estimates now center at a strength of 6.6 and is now being referred to as the “Tacoma” quake.
In Seattle, the Coleman dock (ferry terminal) is completely out of commission. Traffic on the I5 interstate has begun to congest with the closing of at least one bridge in the Olympia area. Landslides have forced the closure of major connectors in the area.
My whole family lives in Seattle. Jesus, this is scary. I just spoke to mom and dad last night! Dad works downtown, so this is especially frightening. I’m trying to call mom at work right now, but the line is busy. Please, can someone fill me in on when it occured, and how worried I should be? My heart is pounding. Email me too, if you don’t mind. I can only stay connected to the Straight Dope periodically.
Thanks.
So far it doesn’t look like anyone was killed, thank god. My dad is now claiming that he felt it, here in the Bay Area. Anyway, many good wishes from one shaky area to another.
Thank You, Zenster, for keeping us updated! This way I can continue to sit here at the Straight Dope and not in front of the TV! (although there are probably sites I could visit for updates, arent’t there? My connection is so slow today, though, It’d drive me crazy.)
Seattle’s CBS affiliate also reports that Sea-Tac airport has grounded all planes and is not allowing any to land until the “all clear” is given.
And last I heard, there are 30 people “trapped” atop the Space Needle while the experts verify that the elevators are fully operational.
What a place to be when a 7.0 magnitude quake hits, eh?
Experts are saying there is no danger of a Tsunami, so that’s something of a relief.
I am thankful I don’t have to be anywhere today, because traffic looks like a real bitch!
I still can’t get through to anyone on my cell phone, and have been unable to get any long-distance calls out on my home phone. (all circuits busy)
At least I am not among the 17,000 left without electricity, and I don’t smell a gas leak.
Oooohhh, Diane, you are giving me the goosie-bumps! 
Beadalin, I hope all is well with your family. It was a rather big quake, but the injuries are comparatively low. It happened at 10:55 this morning.
I can’t guarantee you that all is peachy, as there have been some serious injuries reported, but the damage was not very severe for a 7.0 quake. Chances are your family is trying to call you and reassure you, but can’t get a call out!
I have family in Lakewood, which is really close to the epicenter, and I haven’t been able to get a phone line in to check up on them. The early reports of damage and injuries are encouraging, but I’ll feel better when I know they’re okay. If anybody in the 253 area code can relay a message for me, send mail to waldow@acrylis.com
I just got off the horn with my parent office on Second Ave. in downtown Seattle. They’re shaken up pretty bad, but they have power and phones, and someone was sent off to get a bottle of bourbon.
In fact, they were pretty nonchalant about it until I tipped them off to the photograph at http://www.washingtonpost.com . Then they started freaking out a little.
So . . . Yesterday there was a story about rioting in Seattle during Mardi Gras—now there’s a quake on Ash Wednesday?
To quote Bert Savoy’s last words: “Hmmm-mmm! Ain’t Miss God kickin’ up somethin’ fierce!”
Thanks for your concern, Zenster.
I was at work in Portland and felt the quake, but there is little damage reported here. My wife was at home in Newberg and says everything is okay there.
This from a local radio station:
James Roddey of the Oregon Geology Department says the epicenter of the earthquake was 11 miles northeast of Olympia and 15 miles west-southwest of Tacoma.
They are saying now that there were two bigger and many smaller quakes this morning.
There are reports of damage and injuries in Seattle, but your local news reports are probably as accurate as ours at this point. I haven’t heard anything so far that hasn’t been reported here.
If I learn anything exclusive I’ll post it here. (Who else am I gonna tell?) I’ve been searching web-cams, but haven’t found anything out of the ordinary so far.
I hope all the Seattle Dopers are okay.
Of course, as soon as I hit ‘submit’, I find this link:
http://kgw.com/kgwnews/top_story.html?StoryID=14921