Amy Atkins/For The Olympian

Inside old Olympia Hotel: 'Kept on shaking'

Restaurant hopes to reopen soon

ELIZABETH LEIS, THE OLYMPIAN

"I've been through other earthquakes before, but this was definitely the most violent." -- Lynne Yankee

It's not like a girl from Southern California hasn't withstood earthquakes before.

But when Amy Atkins, 27, a waitress at The Urban Onion, felt the ground move beneath her feet Wednesday, she knew she was closer than ever before to an epicenter.

"I don't even know how many earthquakes I've been through," said Atkins, who moved to Olympia last year after living in Chehalis for a year. "But this one kept on shaking and shaking."

The Urban Onion, 116 Legion Way, is in the lobby of the old Olympia Hotel. On the day of the earthquake, Atkins came into work at 10:30 a.m. She was finishing her breakfast of tofu scramble and about to clock in for her 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. shift. She was discussing reservations with co-worker Lynae Yankee when the quake hit.

Trapped

Atkins said she and Yankee screamed, partially because they were trapped.

"Around the corner to my right was a bar with glass," she said. "Around the corner to the left was a window and a computer."

Atkins, during the last 10 seconds, managed to get under a table. The quake was jarring enough to open one of the restaurant's latched windows.Atkins' first post-quake thought was to make sure no one was hurt. Atkins and Yankee waited to make sure all the restaurant patrons were outside before the two of them fled into Sylvester Park.

There were approximately 100 people milling around, all assessing potential injuries and trying to reach loved ones, Atkins said.

"Everyone was trying to use their cellphone," she said.

Atkins, who was in her Urban Onion uniform, went back inside to get her street clothes from her locker. She went to her apartment on Franklin and Union streets with roommate Jessica Lewis, whom she found in the park. But as Atkins and Lewis walked home, Atkins noticed she was missing something.

"I asked her, 'Was I wearing my glasses when I came outside?' " Atkins said. "They flew off during the quake. ... I found them Thursday next to the computer on the floor."

Atkins was worried about her cats, Shadow and Sam. One of the cats was under a futon, the other hiding beneath Atkins' bed.

"They knew what to do," she said. "They were freaked out, but OK."

Both Yankee and Atkins said their homes sustained minimal damage.

"I was expecting a lot more damage," Yankee said. "I've been through other earthquakes before, but this was definitely the most violent."

Spinning heirloom

Atkins said a family heirloom bookcase did a 360-degree spin before falling on top of a chair and fan. She spent Wednesday night cleaning her room, but went out that afternoon to check on her 90-year-old grandmother in Chehalis. It took Atkins an hour and half to make it from Chehalis to Centralia because of road closures.

The Urban Onion was red-tagged, which meant no one was allowed inside. Atkins took pictures of the damage while doing cleanup. Although the restaurant did not lose equipment, Atkins said it was eerie to see the wasted food.

"We had set up the food ready for lunch," she said. "There were things like wilted lettuce everywhere."

In addition to the long wall cracks, the stairway probably sustained the worst damage, Atkins said. "There's just plaster everywhere," she said.

Like many downtown workers, Atkins is wondering about pay.

Although The Urban Onion is now yellow-tagged, it was locked Saturday.

Atkins, who is also a part-time student at South Puget Sound Community College, works as a waitress four days a week.

"I guess I'll go to the unemployment office on Monday," she said. "We might open Sunday. ... My boss said the worst-case scenario is that we open again late next week."

Plaster fell from the wall of the stairwell that leads from the lobby to the ballroom at the old Olympia Hotel.

A large crack in the wall is visible next to a nicked piano in The Urban Onion in the old Olympia Hotel building.

The Olympian Copyright 2000

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