Rod Kauffman, executive vice president of the Building Owners and Managers Assn. of Seattle and King County, conducted an informal survey of the organization's members after the quake, asking for reports on how well their buildings fared. As of this afternoon, Kauffman had received about 30 to 40 e-mail responses.

For the most part, Kauffman tells GlobeSt "most of the damage has been minor – cracks and fallen plaster, mostly cosmetic damage." Buildings most affected were older, masonry structures and those built on the more unstable land, such as clay fills and sand he says. "Pioneer Square has both, and that's why you saw so much damage there." Kauffman continued saying that damage would certainly have been more severe if not for built-in seismic precautions and retrofits.

This morning, Governor Gary Locke and King County Executive Ron Simms both applauded the area's earthquake-proofing efforts. Says Locke, "We're so lucky that more people weren't seriously injured or killed. Fortunately, we have significantly upgraded our building codes … because we know we are earthquake prone." Simms equally praised the regions efforts, "All in all our bridges held up remarkable well -- 52 bridges had been retrofitted. We do have to begin to look at Alaskan Way Viaduct and its continued viability."