Earthquake rocks Seattle, all DSC personnel in the area safe
Occurring at 10:54 a.m. PST, the nearly minute-long, 6.8-magnitude earthquake was the biggest earthquake to hit the State of Washington in more than 50 years, according to seismologists at the University of Washington seismology lab.
The Seattle, Wash., area was hardest hit, though the earthquake could be felt as far away as a hundred miles, and picked up on seismology equipment several hundred miles away. Its epicenter was between Olympia and Tacoma, Wash., on the edge of the Puget Sound.
Daugherty and Sgt. 1st Class Ralph Anderson, also with DSC Readiness and Mobilization, are participating along with the Seattle-based 1395th Transportation Brigade in the Puget Thunder exercise currently underway at the Pierce County Terminal at the Port of Tacoma.
According to Daugherty, he and Anderson, along with approximately 50 DSC wartraced 1395th personnel, were attending a Puget Thunder port operational briefing in the terminal building at the time of the mid-morning quake.
"As soon as we felt the floor start to shake, Maj. Daugherty yelled, 'Earthquake!' and we all got out of the building in less than two minutes," Anderson said.
"It was a significant emotional event; we were blessed that no one here was hurt," said Daugherty. "It was absolutely amazing; the soldiers acted calmly and immediately assembled in formation about a hundred yards from the warehouse."
According to Daugherty, the phones were down, so four of the 1395th soldiers who lived within the earthquake damage area of concern were allowed to go home to check for injury or damage.
Lodged in the nearby town of Renton, Daugherty and Anderson were surprised their hotel was open when they got back there at night.
"Our hotel rooms had been inspected and we were told it was safe to enter them but there was a lot of cosmetic damage," Daugherty explained. "Both our rooms had cracked walls, the TVs had fallen off the racks, glassware and the coffee pots were smashed on the floor-it was a real mess. The structure was intact though, so we were able to stay there that night.
"Today, it's back to business as usual; we will soon be receiving cargo and the 1395th is on schedule to load Puget Thunder equipment aboard the ship on Saturday," concluded Daugherty. (FROM MILITARY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT COMMAND - DEPLOYMENT SUPPORT COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS).
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