"The one yesterday was pretty minor," says Jim Mark, president of Melvin Mark Companies, a local real estate development, management and brokerage firm that owns several office buildings in the region. "You would want to send qualified people through to check out buildings that already had structural damage or that have visible cracks from the earthquake," but Melvin Mark's buildings had neither problem, so closer examinations weren't necessary.

Other building owners and developers around town, including Ashforth Pacific, which owns several buildings int he Lloyd District, also reported no damage to buildings. The Multnomah County Courthouse was evacuated because it has not had a major retrofitting for earthquakes. It is being thoroughly inspected today.

Still, hwhen the quake hit shortly before 11 a.m., hundreds of people fled downtown office buildings and gathered on street corners to chat away the adrenalin rush from the first significant shaking since 1993.Transportation officials say Portland-area bridges passed initial visual inspections Wednesday afternoon, but that crews will continue to investigate heavily traveled route like the Interstate 5 and 205 bridges that cross the Columbia River into Washington.

The Portland airport got 29 flights rerouted to its runways from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, which sustained damage to its tower, terminal and runways. Two Amtrak trains with more than 220 people aboard were stopped between Seattle and Tacoma so tracks could be inspected for disconnections. No damage was found.