A little Throwback Sunday for ya……and a departure from musings about SAR or writing.
People today are selling “earthquake alarms” that react to the initial upward thrust of an earthquake. It buys people some time to get under their desks before the real shaking begins. Get one! On this day in 2001 I felt that “P-wave” and was already scooting under my desk when the rest of the Nisqually earthquake dropped by Sea-Tac Airport.
I remember shouting “get under your desks” because nobody understands “drop, cover and hold.” I remember a co-worker coming up to me later and saying “every desk I ran to already had somebody under it.”
I remember looking in the cubicle of a valued co-worker and seeing a heavy light fixture across the arms of his chair. He’d gone under his desk and was uninjured.
I remember being previously told “our office is in the part of the airport that will go first in an earthquake.” (I also remember that when it was finally demo’d for reconstruction, they had to call an extra trackhoe to rip it down.)
I remember that we told passengers to leave the building and go out on the elevated departure drive. I remember learning later that the number of people who can crowd into the space of a car…weigh more than a car.
I remember hanging up on a Washington, DC TV station because they’d falsely portrayed themselves as being NBC the network. As the airport spokesman, my interest was in talking to media who could actually reach the community our airport served.
I remember a carefully thought out media tour, approved by the incident commander, being thwarted by a carpenter who didn’t like reporters.
Most of all, I remember looking out our office window and seeing pieces of the control tower outside. Why the whole structure didn’t come down through our ceiling is still a mystery.
For me, 9/11 was mostly a blur. I have only a few memories of that day. But the Nisqually Earthquake I remember like it was yesterday.
Sierra the Search Dog 