Tweeters,

I lived through my first earthquake! (I am a transplant from the midwest).
It is amazing how much less damage we got up here in the northend of
Seattle, at the Seattle Audubon office, than in other parts of the region.
We are on a very large hill, so perhaps our soil is more stable. (?) Many
places in Seattle have significant damage - for example the Pioneer Square
neighborhood. (This is less than surprising because Pioneer Square was
built on fill!)

My parents experienced much more violent shaking and damage where they live
- Rosedale which is south of Gig Harbor. I think they were only a few miles
from the epicenter of the quake. Also, their house in near the water, and
is built on fill. Filing cabinets turned over, drawers flew open, pictures
shook off the walls, books off the shelves, etc. My mom raced outside and
all of the neighbor houses had alarms going off. She was pretty shaken up
when I called her a few minutes after the quake.

I have been told by my geologically-inclined friend and co-worker Helen Ross
that if we had been having a typical winter here - the quake would have been
far worse. Our drought this winter has probably saved us from many serious
mudslides and unstable slopes as a result of the quake. I was with Helen,
going over a document, when the quake hit. I thought to myself, "why is
Helen kicking my chair??!" Then it dawned on me - we were having an
earthquake! Very unsettling. It seemed to last about one minute, then it
was all over.

I hope you all are doing well!

-Lauren Braden, Seattle Audubon

-----Original Message-----
From: Laurinda Anglin [mailto:RindaA at worldnet.att.net]
Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2001 5:32 PM
To: Tweeters
Subject: Re: You guys okay up there?


Hi All,

North Seattle faired pretty well. I just happened to be outside on a break
when the quake hit. I had my back to the building and had just registered
the rumble when someone yelled "get away from the building!" Then I started
to hear the windows rattle and took off running! Hopped over a hedge and
took some minor injuries in the process. I was told that the building was
swaying pretty good over us and I just wanted to get away from it.

I didn't get home for about 1 1/2 hours after - my female cat was acting
100% normal - my male seemed a little "off" - but he's kind of a chicken
anyway. ;o) Fortunately I had no damage at home . . .

The quake didn't seem to affect my yard birds either. They were at the
feeders and water when I got home and have been here off & on just like
normal.

Pretty scary stuff folks - hope we don't have to go through that again any
time soon.

Hope everyone out there is safe and okay . . . .
Laurinda
Mountlake Terrace, WA
RindaA at att.net

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Patterson" <celata at pacifier.com>
To: "tweeters" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2001 1:16 PM
Subject: You guys okay up there?


> Had a bit of a shake down here in Astoria and no word
> from up north...
>
> --
> Mike Patterson Alas, to wear the mantle of Galileo,
> Astoria, OR it is not enough to be persecuted
> celata at pacifier.com by an unkind establishment,
> you must also be right.
> ---Robert Park
> http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/bird/bird.html