6.8 quake jolts Pacific Northwest

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SEATTLE — A powerful earthquake rocked the Northwest yesterday, shattering windows, showering bricks onto sidewalks and sending terrified crowds running into the streets in cities including Seattle and Portland, Ore.

South Puget Sound Community College student Jeff Ennett inspects an earthquake-damaged sidewalk. Hundreds of people were reported injured in Seattle and Olympia. Associated Press

Despite the 6.8 magnitude, damage and injuries were relatively minor, a fact experts attributed to the quake’s depth. About 250 people were reported injured in Seattle and Olympia, at least three of them in serious condition but none with injuries considered critical, officials said.

The earthquake temporarily shut down the Seattle airport, knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people, cracked the dome atop the Capitol in Olympia and briefly trapped about 30 people atop a swaying Space Needle, 605 feet above the city.

"It was a very long, very rough quake," said Betty Emanual, who was trapped in her law firm’s 39th-floor office in downtown Seattle.

Paulette DeRooy, who scrambled onto a fire escape in a Seattle office building, said, "Everyone was panicked."

The quake hit at 10:54 a.m. and was centered 35 miles southwest of Seattle, according to the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo. It was the strongest to hit Washington state in 52 years.

Experts said its depth — in a fault about 33 miles underground — spared the Northwest catastrophic damage. Officials said millions of dollars spent to remodel buildings and highways to protect against earthquakes had paid off: Damage could run into the billions, but that was considered light in a highly developed area with more than 3 million residents.

In contrast, the magnitude-6.7 Northridge quake in Los Angeles in 1994 struck just 11 miles underground. It caused about $40 billion in damage and killed 72 people.

The Northwest quake was felt as far away as British Columbia and southern Oregon, 300 miles away. Buildings in downtown Portland, 140 miles from the epicenter, swayed for nearly a half-minute and crowds gathered on street corners to talk about the quake.

Officials evacuated the city’s Multnomah County Courthouse, which has not had a major retrofitting for earthquakes.

"I thought, ‘If this building goes, we’re doomed.’ I didn’t know what to do. Do I hide under my desk or what?" said Dee Stewart, 46, a judicial assistant who works on the fifth floor.

At least 200 people in the Seattle area were treated for injuries, most of them minor, according to King County Emergency Operations Center spokesman Al Dams and Pierce County hospitals. Three people were in serious condition at Harborview Medical Center; authorities said two had been struck by falling debris. Forty-nine people were treated for minor injuries at two hospitals in Olympia.

President Bush asked the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Joe Allbaugh, to travel to Seattle to offer help.

"Our prayers are with those who were injured and their families and with the many thousands of people whose lives have been disrupted," Bush said.

Gov. Gary Locke declared a state of emergency, freeing state resources and clearing the way for federal aid. After surveying the quake damage by helicopter, he estimated it at more than $1 billion in western Washington alone.

Screams erupted at a Seattle hotel where Microsoft founder Bill Gates was addressing an education and technology conference. He was whisked away as his audience bolted for the exits. Some people were knocked down by others trying to get out. Overhead lights crashed to the floor.

There was damage to a number of other buildings, mostly minor cracks and broken glass. Bricks fell from the top of Starbucks headquarters onto cars parked below and piled up on sidewalks in the popular Pioneer Square neighborhood, the scene of Mardi Gras celebrations the night before.

Mayor Paul Schell said city crews were examining buildings for safety. He said preparations and seismic remodeling had paid off.

"I think the city has been very mindful of earthquake risks," Schell said. "We have no catastrophic damage."

Schools throughout the region halted classes, but many served as shelters until children could be reunited with parents. Many businesses sent workers home and Boeing, the region’s major private employer, closed its Seattle-area factories until today.

The Space Needle — a landmark dating from the 1962 World’s Fair that was built to sway during an earthquake or strong winds — was closed for 2 1/2 hours. None of those stranded at the observation deck and restaurant on top was injured.

"You couldn’t walk," Daryl Stevens said, describing when the quake hit. "It was like a rolling ship in the ocean."

U.S. Highway 101 buckled in places northwest of Olympia, and another road nearby was closed by a mudslide. Engineering crews were checking the Seattle area’s many bridges for damage and some were closed as a precaution.

Puget Sound Energy said 200,000 customers in western Washington lost service, but power was expected to be restored by nightfall.

In Olympia, about 10 miles from the epicenter, legislators, state workers and visiting schoolchildren streamed out of the damaged Capitol.

"The chandelier started going and the floor started shaking," state Sen. Bob Morton said. "Someone yelled, ‘Get under the table!’ and so we did."

Cracked plaster, gilt and paintings fell from the walls. There was fear the dome would collapse and people linked hands as they walked down the marble stairs of the building.

"If that rascal had tumbled down, it would have been all over," Morton said.

The panic was similar in Salem, Ore., where the House and the Senate were in session.

"The building swayed and I yelled, ‘Earthquake!’ and jumped under a doorway," said Jon Coney of Gov. John Kitzhaber’s office.

Earthquake magnitudes are calculated according to ground motion recorded on seismographs. An increase in one full number — from 6.5 to 7.5, for example — means the quake’s magnitude is 10 times as great.

A quake with a magnitude of 6 can cause severe damage, while one with a magnitude of 7 can cause widespread, heavy damage.

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