As two aftershocks rattled nerves yesterday in Seattle, exhibitors were packing up the last of their equipment at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in Seattle after the first major earthquake to affect the region since 1965 struck Wednesday morning during the Direct Marketing Association’s net.marketing Conference & Exhibition.
Attendees gather outside the convention center.
While the 1.2 million square-foot, six-story facility suffered no structural damage, the majority of the damage occurred when “a lot” of ceiling tiles began falling and plastic lighting diffusers shook loose from restroom ceilings shattering on the floor, Michael McQuade, the center’s director of marketing and sales, said yesterday.
McQuade, who was in the building at the time of the earthquake attending an executive staff meeting, said the ceiling tiles are made of pressed composite material, a substance unlikely to injure people when they fall. While many attendees who experienced the violent shaking had said they thought the building was going to collapse, McQuade said the ability of the building to shake as powerfully as it did is what allowed it to withstand the earthquake.
The 6.8-magnitude quake struck at 10:54 a.m. as attendees sat in sessions or toured the exhibit hall floor. As intense jolts that bounced people in their chairs turned to violent shaking, some attendees began to run from the building while others dove beneath tables. People could be seen running for the stairs and escalators with their hands covering their heads as ceiling tiles and dust rained from the ceiling around them. Some people were screaming while others called for calm, shouting, “Don’t run.” Two minor injuries were reported.
Many had feared the building would collapse.
The convention center has held up to as many as 20,000 people, with an average convention attendance of 3,000 to 4,000 people. About 2,000 to 2,500 people, including attendees from one other event, were in the building at the time of the earthquake.
McQuade said that the center was fully operational yesterday with two conference programs in session.
Exhibitors and contractors from net.marketing were still working yesterday to clear the exhibit hall. McQuade said he expected the hall to be empty by 6 p.m.
“After the all clear was given, we came back in the building for clean up and then made sure the building was safe for regular use,” he added.
Many exhibitors made quick work of packing up after the “all clear” was given to enter the conference center. One exhibitor for each company was allowed to enter the building and others that had left briefcases and pocketbooks were permitted to return briefly to retrieve their belongings. Some attendees checked out of the hotels and switchedtheir airline reservations to head home ahead of schedule, even though the airport had been shut down for several hours after the quake.
Two injuries were reported. One exhibitor from Netcentives who received a cut on the forehead from falling debris, and another person who cut their finger on broken glass.
The conference center opened in June 1998. It was built as a bridge across 12 lanes of highway and is designed to withstand earthquakes “up in the 7’s,” McQuade said.
Aftershocks of 3.4 at 1:10 a.m. and 2.7 at 6:23 a.m. rumbled across Seattle yesterday. No apparent damage was reported. The earthquake caused a reported $2 billion in damage and was felt from the Canadian border to Eugene, OR and east to Salt Lake City. It’s epicenter was 11 miles northeast of Olympia, WA, nearly the same as the last quake of this power, a magnitude 7.1 that struck April 13, 1949. That quake resulted in eight deaths and damage to 1,100 buildings.
The DMA had not received any reports of injuries or damage to exhibitor’s equipment, although many of those people were still traveling home yesterday, DMA spokeswoman, Amy Blankenship said.
Attendance at the show totaled 1,659 including delegates, speakers, exhibitors and attendees. The sessions had originally been scheduled to shut down at 3:45 p.m. with the conference hall remaining open until 5 p.m. for a closing reception. Last year’s attendance was 2,000. Some 136 companies exhibited, up slightly from last year.
“Considering the situation in the economy, and in particular with dot coms, we were pleased to have such a strong attendance,” Blankenship said.
Photos by: Mike Yacavone of NextMark, Hanover, NH
Network
