The Associated Press
A worker walks in front of earthquake-damaged Starbucks headquarters Thursday morning in Seattle. A powerful, magnitude-6.8 tremor rocked the Northwest on Wednesday, shattering windows, crushing cars in showers of bricks and sending frightened people running into the streets.

Boeing hit hard by earthquake

Starbucks and Amazon also suffer damage

ALLISON LINN, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEATTLE -- Some of the largest and best-known companies in Seattle, including Starbucks, Amazon.com, Microsoft and Boeing, still had some operations closed Thursday, a day after a magnitude-6.8 earthquake struck the region.

But most companies said they didn't expect large financial losses, mainly because they didn't have long power outages and were able to divert work to other offices.

Boeing, the region's largest private employer, appeared to be hardest hit. Boeing Field, south of Seattle, where completed airplanes are tested and delivered, will be mostly closed for at least two to three weeks, said Al Dams, spokesman for the King County Emergency Operations Center.

The field, also known as the King County Airport, had cracks in runways and taxi ways and damage to the terminal; and was only operating half the length of one runway, Dams said.

Boeing's headquarters building, across the street from the airport, also was damaged and remained closed. The company's Renton plant, which employs 8,000 people and makes the company's popular 737 commercial jets, was closed as the company assesses damage. Smaller operations in the Seattle area also were closed.

The company's massive Everett assembly plant, where 747, 777 and 767 widebodies are built, was open.

A spokesman said the company did not yet know whether any deliveries will be affected by the closures.

Starbucks and Amazon reported only light damage and few workers hurt in the quake that rocked the Pacific Northwest at 10:55 a.m. Wednesday.

Chunks of masonry and lights fell, water mains broke and office furniture was knocked over in the Starbucks Center in south Seattle. More than 24 hours after the earthquake, experts were sent in to recover personal belongings that people had been forced to abandon, but employees were not expected to be back in their offices until at least Monday.

"It's a pretty big cleanup exercise," Starbucks President and CEO Orin Smith said.

The company's Seattle roasting plant was running again after being shut down Wednesday for inspection.

Smith said Starbucks was able to divert most business to other offices following the quake Wednesday.

"We feel that this has had a minimal impact on this company," he said.

Amazon.com's headquarters, in a former hospital overlooking the city, was shut down immediately after the quake with superficial damage. Amazon spokeswoman Patty Smith said employees were hoping to be allowed into the first nine floors of the 12-story building by Friday.

Smith said many employees were able to work at home or at other locations. The company only expected minor financial impact from the quake, she said, since its Web site stayed up and it was able to divert services to other offices.

Experts said those offices, and buildings in the city's historical Pioneer Square District that suffered damage, were built decades ago using concrete frames or masonry that was not reinforced. Most older buildings have added steel reinforcements to meet earthquake safety standards, which architect Behrooz "Ben" Emam said keeps buildings from collapsing but doesn't necessary prevent damage.

"Building codes are designed to provide life safety, to allow people to leave buildings, but they are not designed to provide continuous operation for buildings," said Emam, one founder of the disaster response team for the Seattle chapter of the American Institute of Architecture.

David Clark, a Kent architect and chairman of the AIA's disaster response team, said many businesses, including the Starbucks building, also had more damage because they were built in areas of poor soil, where water once stood. Both Starbucks and Boeing Field are on former mud flats adjoining Seattle's Elliott Bay.

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