Earthquake Aftershocks?

[canadadisney]

Being from Western Canada, I know nothing about earthquakes! Have there been aftershocks since the earthquake last week? We are going to DL in 2 weeks and I am very nervous. Also, (this may sound very weird) what should we do if there is an earthquake and we are either at the park, driving or in the hotel. I might seem a bit paranoid but I also want to be prepared. Thanks.

 

[LVdisneyChick]

Being from Western Canada, I know nothing about earthquakes! Have there been aftershocks since the earthquake last week? We are going to DL in 2 weeks and I am very nervous. Also, (this may sound very weird) what should we do if there is an earthquake and we are either at the park, driving or in the hotel. I might seem a bit paranoid but I also want to be prepared. Thanks.

you are not paranoid, very good question, we are going in 8 days and i was wondering the same thing..

 

[Queenbillabong]

Being from Western Canada, I know nothing about earthquakes!

Where in Western Canada do you live that you know nothing about earthquakes????? Not BC....

 

[daneenm]

There were hundreds of aftershocks, but this does not mean that anyone felt them. Per the reports there were a few small ones that people may have felt. As my daughter will tell you (she is 11 and just studied this) CA has hundreds (maybe thousands?) of small earthquakes daily. You almost never feel them. There are some that would tell you that now is the time to go if you want to avoid an earthquake since this one relieved some pressure on the fault line.

I have lived in CA all my life and have experienced many quakes. The worst in my area was Loma Prieta, and it was the only one that had me truly worried. For the most part, our earthquakes are very mild when they happen and I would say it is not even once a year that I feel one.

General safety rules would say to get out of the way of big trees, poles and large glass windows. If you are inside, the door jamb is a recommended place to stand (structurally stronger than the rest of most rooms) as long as it is not near large windows. In school, children are taught to 'duck and cover,' or to dive under their desks on their knees with their head down and cover their heads with their arm. The same principle works with tables, etc.
In general, unless you are in a wholly unsafe place, it is best not to go running while the quake is going on since you may put yourself in a more dangerous situation.

If you are driving and it is safe to do so, pull over and stop until the quake is over. Most people don't really feel quakes when they are driving or they think they have a flat tire.

We will be in DL in two weeks too! Really, I think you have nothing to worry about. Earthquakes that you can feel are VERY infrequent. All that said, even if there were one, I would think Disney is one of the best places to be, as they would have to have detailed emergency plan, as evidenced by their actions last week.

--Daneen

 

[bumbershoot]

Wait a minute...you don't know about earthquakes but you're in western Canada?

I was looking at http://earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/hazard/simphaz_e.php and it seems you guys do get them.

I don't worry about earthquakes, having grown up in CA then moved up to western WA. If they happen they happen, can't do much about it! And I've never been concerned that much about aftershocks...the important thing IMO to know about quakes is that they FEEL much longer than they ARE. So if you wear a watch with a seconds hand, look at it if you feel one starting, so you know how much time is passing, and the feeling of it being ages doesn't scare you more than it should.


From what I was taught growing up, if you're in your hotel, get under a doorway. Obviously that's not going to work at the parks, so I personally would get in the open if possible. But since they generally aren't long, even if they feel long, there's not much time to get to the open, and it could cause a scarier situation with everyone rushing to an open area. They'll evacuate the rides and help you if you're on one.

Just remember that the buildings and rides are built to high codes and standards.

 

[canadadisney]

Alberta- no earthquakes!

 

[perlster]

The old "stand in the doorjamb" rule is not valid anymore. Earthquake experts changed their minds after research found that many people were injured by swinging doors.

 

[LisainCalifornia]

Being from Western Canada, I know nothing about earthquakes! Have there been aftershocks since the earthquake last week? We are going to DL in 2 weeks and I am very nervous. Also, (this may sound very weird) what should we do if there is an earthquake and we are either at the park, driving or in the hotel. I might seem a bit paranoid but I also want to be prepared. Thanks.

I have had the good luck to be in both the Northridge quake and the San Francisco (actually it was centered in Santa Cruz) quake of 1989. The second one was a doozy!

We live in the bay area and have little quakes all the time. The chances of having a big one like the two I have been in are really, extraorinarily slim. I really wouldn't worry about it. The after shocks are really nothing--just a little shake. Not enough to even knock things off a shelf.

The park is very earthquake retrofitted from what I have heard. Nothing is perfect, but the people at Disney work very hard to make sure that the structures are very solid and can stand up in a quake. If you are driving, then you may not even know you are in an earthquake--just that your car is rumbling. My friend was in a car for the '89 quake, and she said she barely felt it. I was in a rickety old victorian building on the 5th floor, and it shook so hard I thought the building might collapse. So as long as you are not driving over a bridge that could collapse like the Bay Bridge, then being in your car is actually a good thing.

In a hotel, just go to a doorway. Most modern hotels in earthquake zones have to abide by very strict rules of safety as far as being earthquake safe.

Take care,
Lisa

 

[PinkBudgie]

After the earthquake there we decide to have an earthquake plan for when we split up. If our two teen boys were off by themselves and another earthquake occured, we were then to meet up at a certain place right away rather than the original meet up time. They had cell phones, but cell phone lines are likely to be busy right after a quake so better to have a plan. I would suggest having a plan like this in place with your family if you split up. It will help you to feel better knowing you will be able to find them.

 

[XTinabell]

Alberta- no earthquakes!

Yeah, I'm afraid I don't know what some of these other people are talking about. I was born and raised in Alberta (western Canada) and there are NO earthquakes. So I'm glad you asked because I wouldn't really know what to do either.

 

[jory29]

Yeah, I'm afraid I don't know what some of these other people are talking about. I was born and raised in Alberta (western Canada) and there are NO earthquakes. So I'm glad you asked because I wouldn't really know what to do either.

It's not that there are no earthquakes in Alberta - just that they are few and far in between...

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/32459

I'm glad everyone was o.k. during the quake that was felt in DL!!

 

[XTinabell]

It's not that there are no earthquakes in Alberta - just that they are few and far in between...

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/32459

I'm glad everyone was o.k. during the quake that was felt in DL!!

Yeah I guess it's entirely possible to have earthquakes, but I have never felt one. It's not a common issue like tornadoes.

 

[Sherry E]

I have lived in L.A. for 41 years - my entire life - and have lived through many earthquakes. I hate them all. I don't care how small they are, if I can feel them, I hate them. And the bigger ones traumatize me.

That said, to our OP, you will be fine. Even though California is "earthquake country," and we have small quakes every day, the chances of anything large enough happening for you to feel while you are here are so small that it really shouldn't even be a thought. The quake from last Tuesday (5.4) was a moderate to 'small' quake in seismological terms. Now, if you are watching the news and hear of an 7.5 - 8.0 happening here before your arrival, THEN you might feel something and have good reason to be nervous. But I think you will come out unscathed and not have to be initiated into the Earthquake Club! It won't even be a blip on the radar by the time you get here! And, believe me, as scared of quakes as I am, if I am telling you to not worry, you know you can believe it!!

Oh, regarding what one of our previous posters said, according to the news reports I watched, this Chino Hills quake did not relieve any pressure at all on the fault. It wasn't big enough. In fact, it may have increased pressure on other faults A slip-thrust fault works a little differently from the 'normal' faults. They said it would take about 1000 of those same 5.4 quakes to relieve any pressure at all. The good news is that we don't seem to have suffered anything worse since that one on Tuesday, so the ground has probably calmed down for a while, thankfully!

 

[caygrayloremomma]

As a canadian from Western Canada that was standing on the corner of Harbor and the Disneyland entrance when it happened I can tell you that we felt the first one and it wasn't scary but rather odd. It was strong enough. We did not feel a single aftershock although I know that they happened. I do not doubt that some damage occured and that some people were scared, but truly while it was interesting to see the sidewalk ripple and sway side to side we truly forgot about it until people were talking about it on the plane.

I second the poster that said that now is the perfect time to go as the quake would have relieved pressure on the fault line.

I think that the media is trying to make more of a story out of it than it actually is. It sounds like they have done a good job of scaring people.

 

[Tinkerbelle's Mom]

I would keep your trip as planned. I have lived in the LA area for almost three years now and the earthquake last week was the first I have felt. I did not even register any of the aftershocks.

When I first moved here I was always preoccupied about when my "first" one would happen. When my dd came home from school on a day they had an earthquake drill she went around the house showing me all the safe spots and we came up with our plan. So far we have not had to use it -- even last week. It lasted a very, very short time.

Truthfully the idea of it was more unsettling than the actual earthquake. Nothing really moved or fell or anything.. it just shook for a few moments.

DD and I have been to disneyland a great number of times since we moved here. I would expect the CMs at the parks and hotels to be prepared to help you should anything happen.

In reality this seems to be more hype than an actual even! My friends from Virginia (where I lived before) called and asked if I was finally ready to come back after hearing about it on the news. The news made a much bigger deal about it than it was for me or my dd. My dd did nor even have a clue that it happened -- she was too busy playing.

So come and enjoy yourself! Ofcourse if this scares people away that will mean shorter lines for us AP holders!!!!