The Nisqually Earthquake Information Clearinghouse
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* LIFELINES OBSERVATIONS

Lifelines Contact:
Donald Ballantyne, dbballan@eqe.com

*   Preliminary Observations

>  Sea Tac Airport Images

Preliminary Observations

Electric Power:
  • 200,000 Seattle City Light customers lost power immediately after the quake
  • 9,600 of its 350,000 customers were without power
Ports and Railways:

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport [see images at left]:
  • Airport initially closed
  • Limited flights later on Wednesday
  • Structural damage to control tower
  • Temporary control tower being used
  • Runway handling commercial traffic for Seattle area initially closed for inspection
  • North Satellite closed due to water damage
Boeing Field:
  • Main runway closed
  • Damage to control tower
  • Secondary runway is available for emergency use only
Amtrak:
  • Train service was disrupted between Portland and Seattle and on another line between Seattle and Los Angeles, California
Port of Seattle:
  • Cargo handling activities suspended until inspections are completed
Colman Ferry Terminal Seattle
  • 30-foot crack on the surface of the pier's north parking lot.
Fishermen's Terminal
  • Water has been shut off to the main building, and docks 7 and 9 are closed for potential structural damage.
Point Defiance Tahlequah car ferry
  • Shutdown pending an operations test
Highways:
  • U.S. Highway 101 buckled in places Northwest of Olympia
  • State Route 302 is closed to all traffic at milepost 5
  • Kalama River Road at State Route 5 has been is closed
  • State Route 165 is closed at milepost 16 due to damage to an overhead arch
  • State Route 101 is closed to all northbound traffic just north of State Route 8
Up-to-date highway closures are available here on the Washington Department of Transportation's webiste.


Please send website questions and comments to daisy@ce.washington.edu