Where were you when Nisqually Earthquake struck?
It was exactly 10 years ago today when the Nisqually Earthquake struck much of Western Washington and shut down the 2001 legislative session for a couple of days. The big shake occurred at 10:54 a.m. and caused $2 billion in damage. Check out this story in yesterday’s Olympian about the 6.8-magnitude quake and its aftermath.
For those of us who were in the Legislative Building on Olympia’s Capitol Campus, the tremor was a wild, scary ride. But it could have been far worse. When the Lege Building was evacuated, many who were in the building saw the crack on one of the pillars that hold up the sandstone dome weighing more than 11 million lbs. Needless to say, everyone was extremely relieved that the pillars did not collapse and cause the dome to crash down below.
Where were you when the Nisqually Earthquake happened? Let us know! We want to hear your story.
Photo courtesy of Patrick McDonald
12 thoughts on “Where were you when Nisqually Earthquake struck?”
I was in the AP Press House near the Capitol and that historic old frame house twisted and groaned and creaked. Having never been through an actual earthquake, I was, uh, scared and began to think “What if it doesn’t stop? This whole building is going to collapse on me.” Eventually it did stop and dozens of people poured out of the buildings, dazed, and worried about aftershocks. What a year! The Capitol was closed down and session moved into temporary quarters.
BTW, I highly recommend John Dodge’s earthquake package in Sunday’s Olympian. …
http://tinyurl.com/4ecpa5e
I was at a meeting in one of the Rowe Six buildings in Lacey. Everyone in the room huddled under the huge conference table hoping that none of the tall trees would fall. I could feel the ground rolling in waves under my hands. I won’t ever forget the sound of the ground moving below us – an awesome and awful rumbling. It took awhile before I could laugh at myself for fearing another earthquake everytime I heard the sound of feet or rolling carts on the upper floors of a building.
I was still working at the Idaho State Library in Boise. We got the news and were quite anxious for our Washington colleagues. Finally a message came through from Nancy Zussy who was the State Librarian at that time. Soon after the earthquake I came to Olympia to interview. My Idaho colleagues asked me, “Are you sure you want to move there?” I did and since have been very happy about the decision.
I was on the second floor of the Dolliver Building (formerly the old Federal Bldg.) on Capitol Way. I remember hearing this noise and then it took a moment for me to register that we were having an earthquake. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion like the movies. And then all the books and binders in my overhead cabinet came shooting out and raining down. Good thing I was huddled under my desk by then!
I also remember Cindy Sexton in the cubicle next to me, talking on the phone with a customer and telling them that we were having an earthquake. She didn’t hang up on the caller, but instead talked to them on her headset from underneath her desk. What dedication!
It was quite the experience. Not one I wish to repeat…but still, you can’t help but be awed by the sheer force and power of Mother Nature!
I was working at DNR in Chehalis. I was on the phone with my sister who worked at the Keyport Naval Base at the time. At the exact moment the earthquake started, we both said “Earthquake” to each other on the phone! I was so amazed that being so far from each other that we felt it at the exact same moment. Of course, we both got off the phone and under our desks. The building rolled back and forth for what seemed like 10 minutes. I’ll never forget it.
I was in high school at Timberline, in a class that was located in a “portable building.” We first heard the rumbling, and thinking it was Ft. Lewis, didn’t think anything of it. When it started shaking, my teacher hysterically yelled “DUCK AND COVER!!” at which point we all dove under our desks. They tell you to stay in the building until the shaking/swaying stops. While the rest of the school was filing out of their buildings, we were still swinging! When I got home later that day, all my books were on the ground, and several of our potted plants broke. It was the most bizarre thing I’ve experienced.
The Nisqually Earthquake was my third experience with swaying floors since moving to Olympia in 1995. Dreams of an Independent Contract had me at a workshop on the 3rd floor of the Library Building on The Evergreen State College campus. Gradually, the rumbling sound of what I thought was an enormous train/truck came closer and closer. When the building started shaking,
I dove under a table. Interestingly, at least 10 people tried to stand in the same doorway threshold. I grew up in Denver during the Cold War and we had Duck-and-Cover drills all the time since we were Ground Zero in between Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant to the north and Norad to the south. That early training kicked right in. As I held on to the table leg, the swift rocking back and forth made it difficult to keep hold. Horrible thoughts came to mind like “Am I going to die? If the building falls, will it kill people below me? When will this stop? Will I be trapped? Where’s my water bottle?”
I was the last one to leave since I took a moment to gather my thoughts and grab my backpack. My neighborhood was littered with chimneys that had fallen off; home was a mess with broken glass and was yellow-tagged for months; the chimney was knocked off center and ready to fall at any time, so I had to use a different entrance for safety. I’m pretty sure I had PTSD for quite awhile afterward and am certain I felt subtle aftershocks for weeks.
I was working for DOC at the time, but was attending a training at the Lacey Community Center that day. Once everyone realized what was happening, we just got under the tables and stayed there until it was over. Everyone was shook up (so to speak), but okay. The training was canceled for the rest of the day, so me and two of my co-workers went to my house which was just a couple miles away. At my little house built in the 1950s, some things hanging on the walls were askew, but nothing was broken and there was no structural damage – friends who lived in Indian Summer had several huge cracks in their ceiling and walls. The folks in the nine-story DOC building on Fifth Avenue were terrified because the building flexed and swayed (as it was intended to do in an earthquake) and made a lot of noise as it did so. Because the building was built on landfill, everyone was afraid it was going to collapse. People in that building were so emotionally impacted by the earthquake that DOC provided post traumatic incident group counseling sessions for staff who felt they needed it.
This comment below is from Cindy Coopersmith:
I was a tour guide in the Legislative Building and was on tour with a group just outside the Governor’s office, having just left the Governors conference room. I had never experienced an earthquake before but I was sure that it was one. It sounded as if a train was passing directly over my head and I immediately took my tour group to the front steps and down as we had no place to hide, Many of those in the tour group had anxiety and fear and some cried. We stepped as far away from the building as we could along with many who were already out and many pointed out the movement of the columns in the dome. In addition, my son, Jeff Coopersmith, a deputy attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s office, was working for awhile in the G.A. Building, and left the building with many others without his jacket and car keys. We had tickets to visit the Governor’s Mansion and of course could not do so. We returned together to my home in West Olympia and observed all the damage in Olympia as well as the damage to the 4th Avenue Bridge. The day was most memorable because it is also my daughter’s birthday. I have never forgotten the sounds of the rumbling and the fear on people’s faces.
The above is my story of the 2001 earthquake.
Had coordinated a visit for my daughter’s fifth grade class to the Capitol and had taken the day off to be with them. We were in the House chamber sitting in the gallery while our tour guide, Chuck Waste, was giving us a lecture about state symbols as the quake struck. Earlier he had told us about the ’49 quake and how the chandelier in the rotunda was said to be moving for days after. The kids all scrambled under the benches and I ran to the marble doorway behind while the lights flickered off. The place was rocking badly – I truly thought the building was coming down. The lights came back on just as the shaking stopped and we saw debris everywhere. Chuck guided our group out and, to his credit, stayed with us outside in the cold until we could leave, even offering to take us to his house. The kids were hungry and a couple of us tried to get back into the building to retrieve our lunches, which were stashed behind the Mother Joseph statue at the north entrance, but we were stopped at the door. (We eventually stopped at the McDonald’s in Lacey). The kids seemed okay through it all – I think the adults were far more traumatized.
What is the last day to register to vote in Washington State?
Hi David – If you want to register by mail, Oct. 6 is the last day to register if you want to vote in this fall’s General Election, which ends Nov. 6. Oct. 8 is last day to register online, and Oct. 29 is last day for in-person registration at your county elections office if you have not yet registered to vote in Washington. – Brian Zylstra, Deputy Communications Director, Office of Secretary of State
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