Disneyland Halts Rides After Strong Earthquake Hits Southern California

Pat Saperstein

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Numerous parkgoers at Disneyland reported on Twitter that rides were shut for safety inspections after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit Southern California Friday evening at 8:19 p.m. Patrons also left movie theaters, while the Dodgers game continued uninterrupted after a short lull.

The large earthquake centered in the Searles Valley near the town of Ridgecrest came on the heels of Thursday’s 6.4 quake in the same area, which caused road and building damage in the immediate area, which is over 100 miles from the city of Los Angeles. Thousands of aftershocks occurred after Thursday’s temblor.

No damage in Los Angeles was immediately reported, though Encino and several areas closer to the epicenter reported power outages. Roads were reported damaged near the remote town of Trona. The shaker was felt as far as Las Vegas and Kingman, Ariz.

The Searles Valley quake on Friday was even larger than the 1994 Northridge quake, but that 6.7 magnitude temblor caused much more damage as it was centered in metropolitan Los Angeles.

The Fourth of July quake was considered to be a foreshock of Thursday evening’s larger quake. There is approximately a 5-9% chance that an earthquake will be followed by a larger one, according to experts.

Moviegoers streamed out of several movie theaters in the Los Angeles area, but no injuries were immediately reported.

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