Your phone blares, ” Earthquake! ” The voice instructs you to duck, cover, and hold on. About 30 seconds later, the shaking starts .
At first, it makes the furniture sway. It’s stronger than the little quakes you normally get here in Seattle . Another 30 seconds later, the shaking suddenly intensifies.
Pictures fall from the walls, objects fly across the room, and the dining table you’re sheltering under begins to scoot across the floor, several inches at a time.
A loud rumble fills the air. It’s the sound of the city’s buildings swaying and creaking and all their contents shimmying, wobbling, scraping across floors, or crashing down from shelves.
Seattle isn’t even that close to the earthquake’s epicenter .
The Olympic Mountains and about 100 miles stand between the city and the ocean. For people on the coast, the shaking is much worse.
“It will be the worst natural disaster our country has ever seen.” Robert Ezelle, director of emergency management at Washington state’s Military Department