NewsHour coverage of the Seattle Earthquake and the day after.

Seattle residents were jolted out of their chairs early February 28 as the city rocked to a 6.8 earthquake, causing millions of dollars in damage. Extra caught up with one school student who felt the tremors that morning.

A.M. Earthquake
By Arwen Wolfe
Roosevelt High School
Seattle, Washington

I had just sat down with my friends in the cafeteria of Roosevelt High School when I heard a loud groaning noise. There had been some construction going on outside my third period class, and I was puzzled as to why I could hear it on the other side of school.

The whole lunchroom was eerily silent. The floor started shaking. "Oh that's people running down the hallway," I thought. Then I realized that it was an earthquake.

"Is that an earthquake...?" I said to my friends as I glanced out the window and saw our building shifting towards the portable [trailers] outside. My friends and I moved together in a single swift moment, sliding our chairs back and scrambling under the table.

I held onto my best friend Rebecca's arm with my left hand as I grabbed Heather's. Abigail gripped my upper arm as the ground shook beneath us. Was this the big one everyone always said would come? I thought. Is this the beginning and is it going to become a lot worse? Then I thought of my parents and cat at home, were they safe? This was probably the first five seconds of the quake.

Terror replaced my thoughts as Rebecca moved out from the safety of the table. I yanked her arm. "Get back down here!" I hissed. Luckily, she did and my friends and I exchanged worried looks for the next 30 seconds or so until the shaking subsided.

Abigail was the first one to venture out, and we soon followed suit. I glanced at the lunch line and saw the lunch ladies hugging each other. We were all a little shaken up but decided to continue eating. Nothing had fallen or cracked, so we were a little unsure if it actually was an earthquake.

We passed by the principal, as we left the cafeteria, and made jokes about the kiln in ceramics exploding and causing the shaking. In the back of our minds we knew it was for real. Our friend Nicole passed by us in the hallway and informed us that yes, she had felt it too, and that it had measured 6.2 on the Richter scale.

I waited at the bus stop for a long time until the 48 came. The whole ride I was eager to get home and comfort my six year old American shorthair cat, Hazel. She would likely be hiding in my bed covers. I ran down the hill and up the stairs, noting that my mother's car was there. She must have stayed home from work.

I wasn't really worried until I got home, then I realized what a big event this was. I also learned that it was not a 6.2 earthquake, it was a 6.8!

"Hazel's missing," my mom said as I walked through the door. "I haven't seen her all day."

I hurriedly searched the house, looking in all her secret places and niches. When I got to my room I was alarmed to see my light, which was normally mounted on the wall, resting on the center of my pillow. Needless to say I slept on the opposite end of the bed that night. "I can't find her, how about you go around the block while I check on Carlisle."

My mother agreed and I went two doors down to my neighbors house, where I was cat-sitting. As I opened the door the gray cat jumped into my arms, trembling. I went upstairs and noted books and pictures on the floor, but luckily nothing was broken.

I fed Carlisle and went to the third floor. The bed was a few inches out of place, I could see the dents in the carpet where the legs no longer rested. Their dresser drawers were halfway out. I pushed those in and picked up some of their paintings off the floor.

When I came back my mother still hadn't found Hazel, so we went and searched several streets around our house, calling for her.

My mom told me that she had gotten up late and was just sitting down to her coffee when she heard two loud bangs in the basement, several minutes apart. After the second one she stood up to go down to the basement, to see if my father had hurt himself or something had fallen on him, when the ground started shaking.

She saw my dad pruning the blueberry bushes on the hill in front of our house, and his head rising and falling like he was riding a rampaging bull. She dove under the kitchen table just as jars of white rice and bottles of wine smashed down onto the floor from the top shelf of the cupboard.

I decided to do my homework to get my mind off Hazel. My mom went out and searched again. I was watching television, and every five minutes or so opening the front door and calling for Hazel.

It was just after seven when I got up again and looked through the glass and saw my beloved cat standing on the mat. "Mom! Hazel's back!" I squealed as I opened the door.

My dad got home about five minutes later. He was glad that Hazel had returned, he hadn't seen her since before the quake. He told me that when he felt the earthquake at first he thought it was cool, but as it strengthened, he realized that this wasn't a small one and if the house went down the hill he didn't want to go with it. He said he managed to get to the side of the house, but that he could hardly walk upright.

I relaxed and enjoyed the excitement of being in a county that had declared a state of emergency. The next morning at school I learned that there was minimal damage at my friends' houses as well.

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