… that Sunday marked the ninth anniversary of the Nisqually earthquake? The  quake literally rocked Capitol Building dome off its base on February 28, 2001.  The massive 32 million-pound dome, built in 1928, had not been attached to the base.  That’s right: no bolts, no fasteners, no iron steel rods connected the dome to the base.  Mere gravity held the dome down, but when the 6.8 quake hit, it lifted the dome a bit.  

The entire building was shut down for years to repair the damage and do major renovation.  Steel rods were inserted into the columns to stabilize them and reinforced concrete tied the interior and exterior together.  The total cost of the restoration totaled more than $120 million.

This was the third earthquake the Capitol has survived since its construction. The first one happened in 1949 and the other in 1965.  Each time, improvements were made to ensure its stability.