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To: Robert Rose who wrote (118913)	2/28/2001 9:36:40 PM
From: H James Morris	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

>SEATTLE, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Starbucks got a jolt even stronger than one of its double lattes and Microsoft windows -- the glass kind -- got rattled on Wednesday as Seattle's biggest earthquake in 52 years shook up treasured local businesses and landmarks. The 6.8-magnitude quake rocked the normally idyllic Seattle skyline, home to the city's signature structure, the Space Needle, and world-class businesses like aerospace giant Boeing Corp. (NYSE:BA) and online retail giant Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). The 45-second quake, which injured dozens of people, several critically, inflicted some of its most serious damage to the headquarters of coffee king Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ:SBUX), which said the structure just south of downtown would be closed for several days to assess the damage. "As far as we can tell there were no injuries and no stores were seriously damaged," spokeswoman Cheri Libby said. She said executives would meet on Thursday to decide if temporary offices were needed. Boeing Field, an airstrip operated by the company that is also the site for the King County Airport, suffered some of the most serious damage of any corporate facility as the quake buckled runways and blew out windows and pipes in the control tower, King County Executive Ron Sims told reporters. Boeing sent home some 70,000 workers from several factories in the Puget Sound area, where Boeing builds planes like the 747 jumbo jet, so that inspectors could assess any damage, a spokesman said. BAD DAY FOR PIONEER SQUARE It was a bad day for Seattle's scenic Pioneer Square -- the historic heart of the city that was roiled Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning as unruly Mardi Gras revelers smashed cars and injured 70 people before police dispersed the crowd with tear gas and rubber bullets. The tremor cracked or crumpled many of the old brick buildings in the district, flattening nearby parked cars with cascades of bricks and smashing sculptures and paintings in upscale local galleries. On the opposite end of downtown, the Pike Place Market, a lively attraction that daily draws hordes of tourists to its fresh fish and vegetable stalls, shut down after the quake to ensure that the nearly 100-year old site was still safe. "We don't have people open for business. We are expecting for the most part business as usual for tomorrow," said Andrew Hanson-Krueger, a spokesman for the Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority. About 30 tourists visiting the Space Needle got more than they bargained for when they became trapped on the 600-foot tower's observation deck. The Needle had shut off its elevators until it could guarantee they were safe to ride. East of Seattle, across Lake Washington in the suburb of Redmond, software titan Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) emerged largely unscathed, with little or no damage reported at its main campus, where it employs the bulk of its 20,000 Seattle-area workers. However, windows and tiles were shattered at three buildings on a local branch campus, prompting the company to send those workers home. Company co-founder and Chairman Bill Gates was giving a speech when the quake struck, sending the audience scrambling for the exits. "It looked a little more crazy than it was. After things calmed down a bit, people actually filed back in and Bill went back onstage and finished his Q&A," Miller said. Miller added that Microsoft's internal computer networks and family of Web sites centered around its MSN.com Internet portal hummed away unaffected by the heaving earth. RealNetworks Inc. (NASDAQ:RNWK), the top provider of software for sending audio and video over the Internet, also evacuated its headquarters in north downtown, but said its Internet operations remained up and running. "There was no network damage sustained," spokesman David Brotherton said. "No one was hurt, other than people being unnevered and shaken by the quake." Cracks and other minor damage were also visible at Safeco Field, Seattle's $514 million baseball park, and at a new football stadium being built right next door, local television showed.