Members appear unscathed by Washington earthquake
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SEATTLE, Wash. — An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 struck here mid-day Feb. 28, swaying buildings throughout the area and causing major damage and injuring some residents. At press time, no injuries were reported among Church members, and no Church buildings — including the Seattle Washington Temple — received serious damage.
The temblor, with its epicenter some 11 miles northeast of Olympia and recorded at about 30 miles below the surface of the earth, caused power outages, said President James Perry of the Seattle Washington Stake. Speaking during a telephone interview about an hour after the quake, he said he was on the 31st floor of a 76-floor building in downtown Seattle. "There are thousands of people in the streets," he said. "It was really scary. We were going up and down and then the building started to sway. We got our people under desks once we understood what was going on.
"So far, I've talked to all our bishops with the exception of one," he said, adding that some members are without power, but most are "mostly shaken."
President George K. Tsukamoto of the Olympia Washington Stake also reported on his stake's condition. "We had quite a shake-up. It doesn't look like there are any injuries. I've been calling my bishops and making sure they're calling their members."
