An earthquake yesterday hit Seattle and Portland in Washington State. The earthquake was measured at 7.0 in Seattle, according to the US Geological Service. It is the city's second worst on record.
A total of 25 people were injured in the area, five seriously, according to Mr Jim Mullen, Seattle Director of Emergency Services. Damage was reported in much of downtown Seattle where small fires were burning.
Building facades had crumbled. Supermarkets and liquor stores were cleaning up after stock fell on the floor.
Some 30 people were trapped at the top of the Seattle Space Needle as technicians checked the lifts. Buildings were evacuated during the 45-second tremor and about 17,000 people lost their electricity. In Portland, police Lieutenant Mike Hurley said there had been no damage yet.
The area is the most seismically active in the US and Mr Don Blakeman of the National Earthquake Centre placed the epicentre about 35 miles south of Seattle. There is a major fault line about 60 miles off the west coast where the Pacific Plate meets the North Atlantic Plate.
The quake also rattled Vancouver in British Columbia, about 100 miles to the north. A speech by Mr Bill Gates, the head of Microsoft, was interrupted in a Seattle hotel with TV film showing a panicky evacuation of the room as tiles fell from the ceiling.
The Seattle mayor, Mr Paul Schell, told reporters: "I think we have weathered it. It looks so far as if everything is working but it is too soon to tell. It's the biggest quake I remember." Washington state Governor Mr Gary Locke declared a state of emergency, estimating the damage to roads and buildings in billions of dollars.
President Bush promised he would rush aid to the state if necessary. Mr Locke said in a TV interview the damage was primarily structural and could run into billions of dollars.
"A lot of overpasses and roads have sunk," he said. The governor's mansion and state capitol building in Olympia had also suffered heavy damage.
Seattle's historic Pioneer Square area was badly damaged. Older brick buildings such as a local night club and chocolate company were almost demolished in the earthquake.
Mr Ron Sims, executive of King County where Seattle is located, declared a state of emergency to allow inspectors to access buildings to assess any damage. "Our primary purpose is to get seismic inspectors into buildings that we think are frail without going through standard red tape," he said.
A section of Highway 99, a major north-south freeway that carries traffic to and from downtown, was also closed.
Seattle Tacoma International Airport, the region's main airport, closed for part of the day. On reopening, it was left up to airlines to resume flights.
- Additional reporting by AFP and Reuters
