What will Happen if the "Big One" Hits disneyland?

[Wotan]

How about if the big one hits, everyone in the park gets a golden passport, and we all get free Dole Whips? (I mean, let's have some fun!)

[dfan07]

I bet all those OSHA-compliant handrails will hold up just fine.

[DreamImagineCreate]

People, this is a matter of when not if !!!!!

[Mac Daddy]

If I was in Disneyland during the big one, the ONE place I would want to be would be in the queue for Indy right in the middle of the passage where people yank on that pole.

Can you imagine a first timer's response?

"How do they DO that??"

[plagued]

if i were there during the "BIG ONE," i would unfold my park map and hold it over my head to protect me from falling buildings!

[Lore]

Having seen pictures of the construction of Pirates and the Haunted Mansion, I would think those would be the last buildings to have serious damage. Major damage is often caused by foundations giving out, this is unlikely for partially sunk buildings. Sheer stress is another major cause in wood framed buildings, those buildings use steel.

Not sure about the older buildings like Main Street. Those might be wood and would be more prone to damage.

[steamboatpete]

There is a very good chance that "the Big One" will have only a modest impact on Disneyland. The last major earthquake along the San Andreas, which is where the anticipated "Big One" will occur, in Southern California was in 1857. On average, these events come every 150 years or so, but the period can vary significantly. That quake was, however, along the "central" segment of the fault, and the next major quake along that segment will probably have little effect on Anaheim. There could be damage, and you would feel the shaking, but major destruction, injury and loss of life isn't very likely.

The next "Big One" to affect Anaheim will either be along a smaller local fault, like the Newport/Inglewood Fault, or along the southern segment of the San Andreas, which is not 300 years overdue, but has not seen a major event in about 300 years, making it well overdue. This event, however, will be epicentered at least 50 or more miles from Disneyland, so the damage in Anaheim will likely be moderate. Smaller, closer quakes along smaller, more localized faults, actually persent a great danger.

The one that scares me the most is the essentially unknown faults that created the upward thrusting movements that built the hills in Orange and Irvine and Corona. We have little knowledge about quake history here, and a strong quake could come "out of nowhere" here, and it's close enough to seriously affect Anaheim and all of Orange County.

[Rongo]

Not sure about the older buildings like Main Street. Those might be wood and would be more prone to damage.

The Main Street buildings - the ones lining the street - are actually large steel warehouses with facades on the front, as is the Opera House. I'd be most worried about the facades falling off the building. The City Hall and train station are, I believe, wood-framed buildings -- which, actually, tend to do well in earthquakes because they flex with the movement. But they do need foundation strengthening and some reinforcement at ground level to ensure they don't twist the wrong way. Not sure if this applies to the buildings there, and also not sure if it's already been done. I'm betting that there has been some seismic retrofitting on Disneyland buildings whenever they are down for renovations.

[CaptainEO,ATIS]

^ Exactly right.

From a post in another thread on this topic...

ok. Thank you for answering my old question. But back to this question about Disneyland being in the big one. Probably the old buildings would break a bit or completely break. Like ones from the 50s 60s and possibly 70s. Ones that are checked and fixed all the time will probably be just fine.

[DisneyTrains]

Im sure things will get knocked down, and people will get hurt, and nothing too serious that we can't get over eventually, and rebuild.
I personally don't think that it won' come for a long time, and that it's overly hyped up.
With all these earthquakes lately (especially along the san andreas), it helps to loosen the built up pressure that would cause "the big one" (sounds kinda like the firework from Toy Story that Buzz gets tied to. Couldn't they have picked a less cheesy name?).