A large portion of a tree broke off and fell onto the side of the HSS building today at around 10 a.m.

The Monterey Cyprus tree was located on the side of the HSS building next to the Business building. The tree collided into the corner of the HSS building, breaking the window of HSS 300. The office belongs to Nettie Kelly, a program manager for the Recreation & Leisure Studies Department, according to SF State Faculty & Staff Directory.

Department of Public Safety officers were on the scene of the accident immediately and closed off the area with yellow tape.

No one was hurt and there were no other damages to the buildings other than the broken window.

Students at the scene were snapping photos with digital cameras as well as their cell phones.

Chantelle Lamm, who walked by when the tree snapped, said at first she had no idea what had happened. She heard a loud noise that sounded like thunder.

“I didn’t realize what happened,” Lamm said.

She said when she looked up, one side of the tree was falling “banana style.” She said it looked like something out of a movie, not something you see everyday.

Dr. Robert Shearer of the Safety and Risk Management Environmental Health and Occupational Safety office at SF State, said the accident was due to the weather.

"The tree is and was in good health," Shearer said.

Shearer said the piece that fell was heavily saturated due to the recent rains. The tree was not diseased nor was it dry rotting, two things landscapers looked at first for the cause.

Cheryll Buchynski, another student who witnessed the incident, was in her business law class when it occurred. She said at first it sounded like an airplane gearing up and was really loud. She said she had no idea what was going on because it was such an unusual incident.

“It got us out of class early,” she joked.

Ken Lee was in class when it happened. Lee said at first he thought it was rain, then he saw a shadow coming and everyone started screaming.

"My heart is still beating," he said.

Patricia Bartscher, a University Council Member, was outside observing the fallen tree and said the tree looks pretty young. She said the groundskeepers take good care of the trees and it was simply nature happening.

Jason Hauls, a student observing the cleanup of the tree, does landscaping with his dad and said he has seen this happen a lot.

Shearer said this particular species of tree absorbs a lot of water. What he thinks happened was that because of the recent wet weather, the limbs of the tree go too heavy and broke off.

He said the landscapers do a very good job of talking care of the trees. He added that the tree trimmers have to go to a tree trimming school to be trained.

Shearer said that the school has brought in an outside tree company to help out with additional cleanup. He said that the company will be methodically taking down the tree piece by piece.

Though the tree is healthy, Shearer said that the tree was put out of balance by the fallen limb and there was a possibility that another branch could fall.

“Given the time of day this was a very lucky accident, it could’ve been pretty bad," Shearer said.