Quake leaves 17,000 without power in U.S. Northwest

GALLERY Scenes from Seattle, Washington, after Wednesday's earthquake

In this story: Quake rocks state Senate 'Everyone was panicked' Oregon residents shaken from quake RELATED STORIES, SITES

SEATTLE, Washington (CNN) -- Residents in the U.S. Pacific Northwest were shaken Wednesday by a major earthquake that sent bricks in Seattle, Washington, crashing to the ground and knocked out power to thousands of electricity customers. More than 25 people in Seattle and Olympia, Washington were reported injured.

The earthquake hit at 10:55 a.m. and was measured at a magnitude of 6.8, according to officials at the U.S. Geological Survey. Early estimates had put the magnitude as high as 7.0.

The quake was centered 35 miles southwest of Seattle, said the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, and was also felt in Portland, Oregon.

Harborview Medical Center in Seattle reports three people had serious injuries. A spokeswoman said nine other people in the emergency room are in satisfactory condition.

VIDEO See the earthquake hit during a speech by Bill Gates at a Seattle hotel Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Watch the earthquake hit the Capitol building during a state Senate session Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Watch the quake rattle walls and see video of the damage Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   AUDIO Rick Harris rode out Wednesday's earthquake in Seattle's Space Needle 328K/30 sec. AIFF or WAV sound     GALLERY Quake damage in Seattle     RESOURCES Major earthquakes in Washington state The Juan de Fuca tectonic plate Major Northwest quakes Major U.S. quakes Seismic image of the Seattle earthquake Is your home ready for a natural disaster?   MAGNITUDE GUIDE Below is an interactive guide to earthquake magnitude and severity: Magnitude: Less than 3.5 3.5 - 5.4 Under 6.0 6.1 - 6.9 7.0 - 7.9 8 or greater CNN WEBCAM: Seattle webcam   ALSO 'It made death a little more real,' eyewitness says   MESSAGE BOARD Seattle shake-up

A spokeswoman at the Swedish Medical Center in Seattle told CNN she had five quake-related injuries. "We had an elderly person who had a fractured hip. We had a head injury. "We're taking precautions such as cancelling elective surgery." She said most of the injuries were from falling concrete.

Utility officials estimated that 17,000 of its 350,000 customers were without power.

During a cross-country trip to promote his proposed budget President Bush said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was "on top" of the situation in Seattle, where the president said he hoped the earthquake did not "create much damage nor take anybody's life."

Quake rocks state Senate

In Olympia, about 10 miles from the epicenter, a crack was visible in a column at the Capitol dome. Legislators, government workers and visiting school children flooded out of the Capitol and other buildings. The state Senate was in session.
(Play video)

"The chandelier started going and the floor started shaking. Someone yelled get under the table and so we did," state Sen. Bob Morton said. "The sudden violence let us know that this was a bad one."

Cracked plaster, gilt and even paintings fell from the walls, but Morton said he saw no sign of major structural damage.

Officials were particularly afraid the Capitol dome would collapse and people linked hands as they walked down the marble stairs under the heavy dome. "If that rascal had tumbled down, it would have been all over," Morton said.

The Federal Aviation Administration shut down Seattle-Tacoma Airport and the nearby Boeing Field-King County Airport Wednesday because of the quake.

"We are assessing damage now," said Lynn Lampe. "The power is still on in the airport." She said she could see pieces of ceiling damage and water leaks in the airport.

Transportation officials told KING television that some portions of roads and highway on-ramps in Seattle had been closed to check for possible damage such as cracks or fallen concrete which might lead to landslides.

'Everyone was panicked'

"Everyone was panicked," said Paulette DeRooy, who was in an elevator descending from the 15th floor from a downtown Seattle building when the temblor struck. She and several others scrambled onto a fire escape.

Rick Harris, Space Needle spokesman told CNN he and a group of tourists had been trapped on top of the tower for about 25 minutes immediately following the quake. Harris said the needle swayed from side to side and it "felt like it was moving up and down too." Although Harris said the tourists were very frightened, they all made it down from the tower without injury.

Screams erupted at a nearby hotel, where Microsoft founder Bill Gates was addressing an education and technology conference. He was whisked away as his audience bolted for the exits. Some audience members were knocked down by others trying to get out.

People brace themselves during the earthquake

Video of the speech showed the stage shaking violently and some overhead lights falling to the floor.
(Play video)

"I thought a car had hit my building," said Sam Song, who owns a restaurant in Everett, 30 miles north of Seattle. "Then the ground started moving around."

The Pentagon told CNN that it had no reports of any earthquake-related damage at any of the many military bases in the Pacific Northwest region

Oregon residents shaken from quake

In downtown Portland, Oregon, office buildings swayed for 20-30 seconds, and television stations were deluged by calls from viewers reporting rolling motion across the area. Michelle Noonan of suburban Lake Oswego said the quake was strong enough to move things around in her house.

"Everything was shaking," Noonan said. "It knocked over a wood pile outside house. Books fell off the shelf."

In Olympia, Washington, about 10 miles from the quake's epicenter, a crack was reported visible on one of the Capitol dome's columns

Earthquake magnitudes are measures of earthquake size calculated from ground motion recorded on seismographs. With each scale, an increase in one full number -- from 6.5 to 7.5, for example -- means the quake's magnitude is 10 times as great.

A quake with a magnitude of 6 can cause severe damage, while one with a magnitude of 7 can cause widespread heavy damage.

A magnitude-5.0 quake that struck the Puget Sound area on January 28, 1995, was described as the strongest to hit the area in 30 years, since a 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck April 29, 1965, injuring at least 31 people. In 1949, a 7.1-magnitude quake near Olympia killed eight people.

The Northridge quake that struck the Los Angeles area in January 1994 caused an estimated $40 billion in damage and killed 72 people. It was a magnitude 6.7.

To the north in Canada, Ravo Baichwal, of VTV television in Vancouver, British Columbia, reported that he could feel the quake in his station's newsroom. "It didn't last nearly as long as it did in Seattle, maybe five to seven seconds," Baichwal told CNN. He said there were some unconfirmed reports of minor damage in near the city.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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