Legislators displaced, yet feel fortunate

The Associated Press

OLYMPIA -- Chunks of plaster, broken glass and dust coated the Senate and House floors, displacing legislators contemplating when -- and whether -- they can return to work in the Capitol damaged by Wednesday's earthquake.

Lawmakers planned to meet today to assess the damage but the Legislature will not convene until Monday at the earliest. They may have to find a temporary new home in which to finish their 105-day session.

"We're going to have to do a little improvising," said House Co-Speaker Clyde Ballard.

The earthquake, centered about 11 miles northeast of Olympia, was felt Wednesday as far away as southern Oregon and Canada.

The state emergency Management Division tallied 272 injuries directly linked to the quake, but all but a few were minor and none was considered critical.

Two minor aftershocks were recorded early today at the same location of the initial quake. A magnitude-3.4 quake occurred at 1:10 a.m. and a magnitude-2.7 was recorded at 6:23 a.m., said University of Washington seismologist Bob Norris. Neither was widely felt and no additional damage was reported.

Gov. Gary Locke also was among those displaced by Wednesday's powerful quake, which was centered 11 miles away. He, his wife and two children were forced out of the Governor's Mansion, at least for one night. He said books and pictures flew off the walls, which cracked.

The governor was about to leave for an event at Seattle's Space Needle when the quake hit. Instead, he and staff members in his office crawled under their desks.

Locke said he remembers how the floor of his junior high music room rolled when a 6.5 earthquake hit in 1965.

"This earthquake was much longer, much stronger," he said.

Shop windows shattered and rubble littered downtown streets of the capital.

"When it hit the building, it was like a bomb going off," said Steve Cooper, owner of the two-story Washington Federal Savings Bank building. He stood in the doorway and watched the quake roll toward him, a 3-foot swell that lifted buildings, sidewalk and pavement. A cascade of stone and tile fell from his building, crushing the hood of a parked car.

"It was like a waterfall," Cooper said.

At the Capitol, chandeliers swayed as chunks of plaster and gilt from the ornate Senate ceiling rained down onto empty desks. Senators in the party caucus room jumped under heavy wood tables and hugged doorways.

Columns in the building's ornate reception room had twisted and crumbled in places -- one column moved 6 inches.

"The ceiling was crumbling, and all I could think about is whether my espresso machine would be OK," said Rep. John Pennington.

In Lt. Governor Brad Owen's office, a false ceiling with lights installed in it crashed on an empty desk.

"Kudos to that elementary school training about earthquakes," Owen said. "Everyone headed for a doorway."

The most visible sign of structural weakness was the vertical crack behind one of the pillars surrounding the 74-year-old Capitol dome. The sandstone and brick dome rises 287 feet and is one of the world's largest masonry domes. It supports a 10,000-pound chandelier. The building was retrofitted for earthquakes about 20 years ago, and legislators were considering another major renovation beginning next year.

While there's no threat the dome will collapse, state architect Duane Harkness said, "big chunks of the ceiling could still break away."

"We're just very lucky none of that fell," said Ballard. "You think you have problems and priorities until something like this comes along. It reminds us life's pretty fragile."

The Olympian Copyright 2000

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