Earthquakes...

[toonaspie]

As interesting as it would be to experience an earthquake at Disneyland I would likely be more irritated by all the ride closures that would result shortly in the aftermath. From what I've heard from past quakes at Disneyland the guests pretty much take over the streets and get really rowdy and tempered leaving you with barely anywhere to go. Depending on the severity the ride closures can take up hours. So if you want to plan for anything regarding earthquakes, plan extra time.

 

[Capt Silly]

Jaded Ex-Californian here....just a warning I lived in California for the first 30 years of my life, and I am a bit jaded about earthquakes.

The 2 stories I tell of them are these:

The 1989 Loma Prieta Quake (World Series), I was in Sacramento. It felt like someone was rocking the floor under me, but other than that I ignored it. My co-worker at the time literally ran full tilt out the door into the parking lot and moved back to Pennsylvania within a month. The worst part about that quake was I had many friend in Santa Cruz, and while there were reports of major damage, there was no real news from there for 2 days.

The second comes from my brother. He woke one morning and felt his bed shaking. Looking up, he realized that he was sleeping under a picture window, so he immediately pulled the blanket over his head in case the glass shattered.

But seriously, I think you should remember the prayer of serenity:

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Earthquakes will happen, we don't know when or how strong they will be. As has been previously said, California has some of the highest standards for mitigating the effects of earthquakes, and Disney I am sure follows them more carefully than most. Everything we know has been done to keep people safe while in California, and Disneyland. We all see the images from other places, like Haiti and Chile, where the building codes are not up to the same standards, and think all earthquakes are like that. Those are the exceptions, not the rule.

The ONLY thing worrying about them will do is lessen your enjoyment of your trip. Definitely read about earthquake safety, and make sure your kids are aware of it too. But the chances are so slim of an earthquake occurring that it is just not worth more than a little forethought.

This of course is just my opinion.

 

[Monkey Monkey]

I've been in SoCal for almost 43 years - I am a SoCal girl - and earthquakes are NOT "nothing." They can cause tremendous damage for those who live right near the epicenter and sometimes beyond, and it should never be taken lightly. I know people who lost their home in a quake. I've gone through Sylmar...Whittier Narrows...Landers (huge)...Big Bear (very large)...and for the love of God, NORTHRIDGE (which was terrifying and traumatizing)!!! There is a even a little Beverly Hills fault that is basically right underneath me, and when it erupts in a 1.0 quake every so often - we feel it sharply because it's right here! Imagine if it produced a 5.0 or something!

The recent 7.1 that we had in Calexico/Mexicali was a BIG, big quake. That is nothing to sneeze at. It has now put all kinds of stress on faults north of it - closer to Orange County and closer to Los Angeles. Cal Tech revealed that fact on the news the other day. They are now trying to figure out exactly how much stress has been put on the faults. If you lived in the kind of building I live in, where the walls shake if someone closes a door on another floor, you would realize how scary some quakes can be (and yes, this building is up to code - it's just very thinly built!).

Anyway, I had to jump in here and add that in. I think people get a little too jaded living in SoCal sometimes, not thinking about other people who have suffered a lot of damage in quakes.

But ShellyMouse, the chances of a substantial quake happening while you are in Earthquake country or at DLR are very minimal. So I don't think you need to worry about that aspect at all. Quakes happen every day, all over the state, but they are usually so small that they are not felt. The significant ones - moderate or large - happen infrequently. Right now, we are in a period of high quake activity, which happens from time to time, according to Lucy at Cal Tech. We were in a period of high quake activity in the mid-'80s to early '90s, and then after Northridge scared1:) everything quieted down for a while. It started to pick back up again last year or in 2008. But even during the periods of high quake activity, it is very unlikely you will be here at a time when a quake happens.

You can really count on hurricanes in the gulf coast happening every year more than you can count on a moderate or large quake happening.

Well of course everyone knows that earthquakes can cause significant damage, injury, and loss of life. That's a given. The point is that an earthquake that is felt is rare, and one that causes damage and/or injury is even more rare. Yes, those of us that live here need to be aware and fearful of the potential for earthquakes, and I think even the most "jaded" of us are.

I worry far more about wildfires than I do earthquakes, and I worry about earthquakes.

 

[iKristin]

...and for the love of God, NORTHRIDGE (which was terrifying and traumatizing)!!!

Yep...survived that one myself. I was only...8 I think?? Well 7 or 8 lol but I was IN Northridge at my moms place and I wouldn't go inside for a whole week I was so scared after that. That one was the worst i've ever been in.

 

[PinkBudgie]

The 1989 Loma Prieta Quake (World Series), I was in Sacramento. It felt like someone was rocking the floor under me, but other than that I ignored it. My co-worker at the time literally ran full tilt out the door into the parking lot and moved back to Pennsylvania within a month. The worst part about that quake was I had many friend in Santa Cruz, and while there were reports of major damage, there was no real news from there for 2 days.

I was in that one too, but in the North Bay. I was just married and alone in our apt. It seemed to go on forever and I thought for sure the building was going to fall on me. But it didn't. I think the most that happened was a card on the tv set fell off. That was the biggest one I've been in. The odd thing is, I've lived in California my entire life but felt no earthquakes growing up until age 15. After that, nothing until the Loma Prieta. But since then, there have been many many small ones. (I've lived in the same area)

Two years ago we had a 5.4 at DLR. We upgrading to APs. I started to head for a door way, then ran back to grab my tickets off the counter. Yes, I had the thought that they might shoo us all out and then we would have no tickets. Anyway, rides were closed. Some all day even though the quake was around noon. Others opened up after a few hours. Many went to ask for their money back but we figured DLR isn't responsible for quakes so we ate lunch, shopped at DTD, then came back for rides.

Now, we always have an earthquake plan at DLR. Our teen boys were not with us, but in a near by store. We found each other on Main Street. If cell phones are not working after a quake or busy, we have a meeting place to go to if there is a quake. It wouldn't hurt to have a plan. Also, at the hotel, the first thing you should do is check out where the stairs are and how many doors down they are from your room.

 

[Funball]

dude shelly, earthquakes are not as bad as a hurricane or blizzard all you have to do if one hits is, run around in circles outside your hotel and just start screaming like a lunatic..! lol

 

[Janell]

I too worry about wild fires. They seem to happen every year and more then one each year. We skipped DLR in 2007 or 2008 (I forget which year) due to the air was so bad from the fires.

 

[ShellyMouse]

dude shelly, earthquakes are not as bad as a hurricane or blizzard all you have to do if one hits is, run around in circles outside your hotel and just start screaming like a lunatic..! lol

oh, i can do that....im all set now! (i will add this to our disaster plan folder for sure!)


seriously....thanks to everyone for the words of encouragment! im such a worrier... but believe me, im MUCH better than i used to be!

 

[CMHusband]

Been here all my life, lived through many earthquakes...For people out of town, the new media makes them seem way waaaaaay worse than they are. Sometimes we don't even feel them and the news will be talking about them and desperately seeking some kind of damage to show on TV.

Many more people are hurt or die every year form storms, tornadoes and such... You have a higher potential of winning lotto than being here when we have an earthquake.

 

[Mike_M]

Another born and raised ex-Californian here who rode out the Loma Prieta Earthquake in '89 as well as many other lesser quakes (including a couple little tremors up here in the Puget Sound area).

Something to keep in mind is that California implemented a lot of earthquake preventative building regulations in the last couple decades. All of DCA should have been built with these protections in place and I'm sure that much of DL has had approproiate retrofits happen and regular earthquake stress inspections performed. In all honesty, California is probably the best prepared place for a large quake so I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Mugglemama]

OP, the Loma Prieta quake that everyone is referring to...I was a junior in high school when that one hit. I attended an old school, probably built in the 40's. That quake was the only one I've ever "heard" coming...I can remember there was this weird rumbling (but not really a rumble, I can't describe the sound), and all the kids in my English class grasped their desks and nervously looked around at everyone else in the room. It was like we all knew what was happening just a split second before it hit. We all dove under our desks, of course. It was freaky, and big, but there weren't any damages to our super old, rundown high school buildings. LOL, I am sure that the rides and buildings at DLR are built and maintained waaaaaaaay better than that neglected, inner city school was!

I am a "worrier" too, but try not to worry about this. It will detract from your fun, and even if there was a quake, odds are no harm will come to you because of it. (And then you'll be able to say you've experienced an earthquake! Cuz when you think about what is actually happening, as with all natural phenomenon, earthquakes are REALLY interesting.)

 

[shiminmaria]

Just relax...

 

[Aust]

I'm worried about earthquakes, especially the one night/day we are spending in San Francisco! I keep hearing reports about how 'the big one' is overdue, and earthquakes are very rare here in Australia so it's not something I usually have to think about. But then I am the kind of person who is always worried about planes crashing etc, so I am trying to relax and take the attitude that when my time's up my time's up and not much I can do about it!

 

[Sherry E]

Yep...survived that one myself. I was only...8 I think?? Well 7 or 8 lol but I was IN Northridge at my moms place and I wouldn't go inside for a whole week I was so scared after that. That one was the worst i've ever been in.

iKristin - me, too. It was the worst one for me as well because it was the closest geographical epicenter to the L.A. basin, where I am. It was traumatizing. And it changed the opinions of a lot of my friends who had previously thought earthquakes were fun roller coaster rides, because they experienced what it feels like to have one that was closer to where they lived...and it was not fun, which they realized as they were picking up tons of broken items from the floors in their homes, putting the TV back on its shelf and suddenly needing to call contractors to get an estimate on how much it would cost to repair the damage to their homes. One couple I know totally lost their home in the Northridge quake and they were so shell shocked after that that they moved out of state.

I can't even imagine what it was like for you to be IN Northridge during that quake (especially after seeing the footage on TV of the pancaked buildings), and how it must have been for you as an 8-year-old girl! Yikes! You poor thing. I was a fully grown adult in 1994, but I remember that not only could I not sleep for a couple of weeks after Northridge because the aftershocks were too much to take and my nerves were shot, but I wouldn't even get in the bed to try to sleep unless I was fully dressed because when Northridge happened I had just gotten out of the shower and was in a towel and bare feet (as things were flying around the room and the power went out)! I was so afraid I was going to be caught off guard again.

To this day, at the first sign of a quake I am instantly brought back to Northridge for a brief second, and the feeling of terror that I had when that one started (when it became clear that it was going to be a bad one), because I never know how bad they are going to be and I don't want to be that person in the towel and bare feet again, running over falling items, trying to get to a door jamb while I am praying under my breath.

 

[iKristin]

Yeah my mom lived in an apartment at the time and we were all quickly running to the next door parking lot where Denny's was and we spent the night with tons of people in that parking lot. The back apartments were built above the car ports and they completely fell down onto the cars. The three story apartments diagonal from us were completely pancaked down. It was so sad

 

[PinkBudgie]

I'm worried about earthquakes, especially the one night/day we are spending in San Francisco! I keep hearing reports about how 'the big one' is overdue, and earthquakes are very rare here in Australia so it's not something I usually have to think about. But then I am the kind of person who is always worried about planes crashing etc, so I am trying to relax and take the attitude that when my time's up my time's up and not much I can do about it!

I've been hearing about "The Big One" my entire life. I don't think they really know. I'm a worrier too. I deal with it by finding out information on my current topic of of worry. Once I know the "truth" about the issue and not the myth along with knowing ahead of time what to do if it happens, I feel better.

I have the book The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes and Why. It was very interesting and learned some good things from it.
http://www.amazon.com/Unthinkable-Survives-When-Disaster-Strikes/dp/0307352900/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277915772&sr=1-1

 

[Funball]

oh, i can do that....im all set now! (i will add this to our disaster plan folder for sure!)


seriously....thanks to everyone for the words of encouragment! im such a worrier... but believe me, im MUCH better than i used to be!

ssssuuuurre you are! i don't want to get a call from you becuase an earthquake hit and you are in the top floor of the PPH! i will be on a private jet on my way to belize if that happens ..

 

[Smokering]

As someone from New Zealand, it hadn't occurred to me to worry about earthquakes at Disneyland. NZ's "famous" for earthquakes as well - Wellington was cleverly built right on a fault line (and much of Auckland is actually on top of a DORMANT (not extinct) volcano - great planning there). In the 14 years I've lived here I couldn't swear on oath I'd ever felt an earthquake - there have been a few, but I was at work and wasn't sure if they were real or just the train going under the building. I'm used to visitors arriving in NZ being freaked out that they'll get toppled by a building, but... it just isn't a concern.

 

[jtown]

Okay, we just had the earthquake. It's all clear now. :

 

[Disney Dreams]

Felt it!