Many schools, businesses and government offices remained closed today in Olympia, Washington and parts of Seattle - one day after a 6.8 earthquake. Federal officials now are touring the area to size up the need for disaster aid. Some homeowners and business owners are making the unpleasant discovery that insurance typically doesn't cover earthquake damage unless you specifically buy extra coverage. From Olympia, Washington, Reporter Tom Banse reports. Federal emergency managers and Congressmembers gawk at the jagged cracks running across facades of four and five story buildings and the piles of rubble where cornices and walls collapsed.
Most stores are closed.
Fences block off sidewalks and alleys where passersby risk being conked on the head by falling bricks. Local officials like Olympia mayor Stan Biles press around the FEMA director to ask for help. Yesterday's violent shaking causes scores of mostly minor injuries but extensive property damage. Chimneys tumbled, false ceilings collapsed, computers and T-V's toppled, and grandfather clocks crashed down. Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler says people have already started bringing him their tales of woe.