This Dot-Com Shakeout Measured 6.8
Mar 01 2001
When does an earthquake belong on the business page? When it hits a tech center like the Pacific Northwest. It seems that no one died or was seriously hurt in the quake, however, so a money-focused take on the disaster is relatively inoffensive.
Most businesses sent employees home because of safety concerns and power outages, reported CNNfn. But in the insane spirit that tech businesses are famous for, some Amazon employees worked from the parking lot after the quake, reported the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. RealNetworks and Drugstore.com also evacuated employees, said News.com, and broadband provider 360networks postponed an earnings report. The BBC News Online reported that the earthquake caused about $1 billion in damage.
Bill Gates was giving a speech in downtown Seattle when the room started shaking. Several outlets combined their own coverage with AP reports, so it's hard to tell who said what, but let's just say opinions differ on whether Gates calmly left the stage or was whisked away by flunkies. Reporters seem to agree that audience members knocked each other over in a panicked rush for the doors. The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center's Web site was also knocked to the ground by users looking for information on the earthquake.
Some anecdotes reveal Northwest workers attempting to retain their senses of humor. An Oregon programmer told Wired News that his first thought was "Save and shut down!" and his second was to check on his wife. Techies joked to Wired that their post-Mardi Gras hangovers hurt Wednesday's productivity more than the earthquake. A Seattle Times human-interest story on quake reactions featured the tale of a biotech HR manager who had always looked forward to a big earthquake. While his coworkers dove under their desks, he yelled "I am riding this babee out!" and mimed surfing. "Later, he realized his surfin' safari was viewed via videoconference by colleagues in San Francisco and Montana," added the Times.
Seismologists and the average Northwest resident agree that the area got off relatively easy. Maybe some of that luck will rub off on the economy.
Earthquake Jolts Seattle
The Industry Standard
Business Picks Up the Pieces After Jolt
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Quake Damage 'Tops $1 Billion'
BBC
Gates Can't Be Blamed for This Crash
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Large Quake Rattles Seattle Area
CNET
Web Sites See Seismic Activity Following Seattle Earthquake
Wall Street Journal
Northwest Works Through Quake
Wired News
Some Rode It Out, Some Took Charge
Seattle Times