The Damage The 6.8 Nisqually Earthquake which shook the Central Puget Sound region for roughly 40 seconds on Feb. 28, 2001 left major economic and logistical impacts which were felt across the Pacific Northwest. The King County Airport sustained severe runway damage, the airport tower was rendered inoperable and the airport terminal was closed for 48 hours.

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SeaTac Airport closed immediately following the quake and structures and runways were rapidly assessed for damage. The SeaTac control tower was destroyed. Temporary flight control was reestablished and the first available flight out was cleared to take off 48 minutes after the quake; all gates at SeaTac were operational by 10:30 p.m. A landslide on the Cedar River threatened widespread flooding and forced evacuations and a landslide across the jet fuel pipeline cut off supply to SeaTac Airport for two days. Several state highways were closed. Despite these and other damage-related impacts from the quake, reported damage was less than expected thanks to the enactment of new building codes, public education and awareness campaigns, reinforcement of bridges and overpasses, and the robustness of the state emergency operations center with its enhanced and redundant communications sytems. Luck also played a part. Related link: Photos from the quake event Updated: Feb. 24, 2002 Nisqually Earthquake home The Damage | Our Response | Image Gallery | Get Prepared Executive's home | Executive's news Executive's schedule | Executive's e-mail King County | Executive | News | Services | Comments | Search Links to external sites do not constitute endorsements by King County. By visiting this and other King County web pages, you expressly agree to be bound by terms and conditions of the site. The details.