Alarming first-person Seattle earthquake coverage

by Bryan Alvarez

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I am so ashamed to be a resident of Seattle today.

If you could only see our local news coverage. Shot after shot of previously condemned buildings with very minor structural damage. Shot after shot of people looking scared. Tons of footage shot by residents as the quake hit. The residents are so scared during this footage that they don't even put the cameras down, they just film things like the overhead lights swinging back and forth. Every single news station here is treating this like Halley's Comet struck downtown Seattle and absolutely leveled it. A stern newswoman just did a story about some homeless people who, following this devastating natural disaster, "have no place to go". Like they had someplace to go before the earthquake.

All the news stations are taking calls from alarmed citizens.

"Man, I was really scared."

"That was really scary."

"I was never so scared in my life."

"It was like an 18-wheeler was smashing into my house repeatedly" (like their house has been repeatedly smashed by an 18-wheeler in the past).

It started as a 6.2, and, like Earnest Miller's ankle injury, traveled upwards throughout the day until it hit a 7.0. Now it's back down to a 6.8.

I'm sitting here looking outside, and everything is absolutely 100% normal. Traffic is fine. Power is on. Water runs. Nothing has collapsed. Animals are acting as stupid as ever. In the background, the TV is telling me that the entire area is under a state of emergency.

Thank God for the Internet, my last means of communication with the outside world.

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