DO-IT Rocks!
On February 28, 2001 a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit the Pacific Northwest. DO-IT staff were in a meeting talking about DO-IT activities when the earth began to shake beneath our feet. Following the "drop, cover, hold" (in other words, crawl under a table or desk and hold on to a leg so that it doesn't dance away from you) instructions that we Seattlites have learned from early childhood, we dove under the conference table. Below are accounts of the experiences of DO-IT Scholars, Ambassadors, friends, and staff in our area, as shared (of course) over the Internet:
DO-IT staff: "We are doing remarkably well in Seattle. I visited my son's school and the kids were mainly excited about it...the kids have many earthquake drills around here so everyone knew exactly what to do! The adults were little more nervous."
DO-IT friend: "I hope that the damage was minimal and everyone is ok. I am glad that the students learn the drills and have adapted well. Was there much damage? I hope there were no injuries."
DO-IT Scholar: "Oh the earth moved all right!"
Scholar: "Hi, We felt the quake at 10:55 at school and the school was totally shaking and the portables were swaying; it was freaky. No one knew what happened, but we soon found out. Those after shocks were amazing, all the way over here in Spokane, WA. Wow. We've had lock down drills, fire drills and now, after the fact, we need to do earthquake drills; it was freaky. The last time my family felt one was the day my twin sister and I were born on Oct. 22, 1983."
DO-IT Ambassador: "I am glad to hear everyone is ok. I had not heard about the earthquake till I logged on today. Is anyone having accessibility problems due to the quake?"
Scholar: "Hi everybody. I'm very glad that you all are ok. Today was very scary day. When the earthquake happen I was at school in my math class at the second floor. Suddenly my chair shook and I looked at my teacher, and than we all went under the tables and the floor kept swinging like a swing for about 20 seconds. I got little bit dizzy, but than thanks to God, we all got out of it ok. Before all this happened I went to another school that morning and I gave a presentation there; Kathy came there, too."
Ambassador: "I felt it over here in eastern Washington while I was taking an intelligence battery. It felt similar to being on a bus that was hit by a gust of wind. I felt like I was moving. Pretty weird. I hope all is well in Seattle."
Ambassador: "Hello all!! I hope that everyone in the Washington and Oregon area is safe despite of this powerful earthquake. It would have been a little funny for the DO-IT program to experience this earthquake in the summer during the camp. It would be a first time experience for those who have never been in an earthquake."
Scholar: "Does DO-IT have anybody living in the epicenter?"
Ambassador: "Yes, there are several DO-IT people who live in Lacey. It really didn't seem that bad to me, but then my work building is only 11 years old and it exceeded specs by far. We lost some ceiling tiles, but nothing critical. Best wishes in recovery."
Ambassador: "I live in Graham, which is about 15 miles or so from the epicenter. I was just waking up as it happened, but it didn't seem that bad compared to other quakes I've been in that were less in magnitude. I think the Puget Sound was very lucky with this one."
Ambassador: "Despite it being 7.0 and making a hell of a lot of noise, most of Seattle is quite okay. Yay for engineering. Of course, here in Colorado Springs I was well away from the action."
Ambassador: "I felt the earthquake [in Oregon], but no damage was done as near as I can see."