Earthquake worries

[BirdTravels]

11 hours ago, anykiad said:

Hi Everyone,

So we're cruising on March 3rd and I'm so excited. But I'm super nervous about the Earthquakes. I know they can cause large waves and I know that I'm most likely being ridiculous. But I can't help but wonder has anyone had any experiences with earthquakes while near the shore or on the ship? 

Don’t sail on the Pride of America where there are earthquakes every day. For the most part small. But sometimes not so small. 

[Caroldoll]

14 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I read an article recently about an increase in alien abductions of humans from vessels on the high seas.  Not making this up.  My guess is you have as much to fear of a potential earthquake at sea as you do a potential alien abduction.  Since neither are very likely, my advice is to just enjoy the fun of the anticipation of a cruise and then embark and have a fantastic time!

You CAN NOT feel an earthquake at sea.

[Tapi]

 Not quite on a cruise ship,  but a few years ago, I was staying at the Caribe Hilton in San Juan. I went for a swim in the ocean, and when I went back to my beach chair, my phone was bombarded with alerts and texts about an earthquake that apparently hit while I was swimming. I called one of my coworkers who was in his room up in the tower and he said that it had been strong, that the entire building swayed and rumbled, and that he feared for his life. In the meantime I had been in the ocean, floating around, with zero clue that this had happened. There was NO indication whatsoever and I didn’t feel a thing. Needless to say, the tremor wasn’t strong enough to cause a tsunami. The ocean stayed as calm as it had been the entire time. 

 

 

 

 

 

[cementhands]

Tsunami warning systems were implemented in the Pacific Ocean a few years ago. While on a celebrity cruise in the early 2000’s an actual tsunami conference was going onboard.I talked with one of the guys and he said the threat was real and it would take major events to implement warning systems worldwide. Earthquake and the China corona virus are real events that can trigger change. Grand Cayman has a sinkhole supposed to be caused by recent earthquakes. Jamaica is monitoring both situations.

[Georgia_Peaches]

4 hours ago, Caroldoll said:

You CAN NOT feel an earthquake at sea.

Well that was TOTALLY not the point of my post...but, good to know.

Edited January 30, 2020 by Georgia_Peaches

[ziggyuk]

19 hours ago, MotownVoice said:

Guess where the safest place to be on earth is in the event of the worst earthquake imaginable.

Go on, guess.

 

An Airplane

[MotownVoice]

1 minute ago, ziggyuk said:

 

An Airplane

An airplane has to. ......

 

Wait for it........

 

Land.  

[Seaside maid]

21 hours ago, david_sobe said:

Whatever you do.....don't watch the Poseidon Adventure

 

😨😲

 

This recent earthquake happened right around a common cruise ship area so I am curious if any ships were impacted by waves.

My son and daughter-in-law are on Mein Schiff and it was between Cuba and Jamaica when the quake was reported.  They said they were not aware of anything and the sea was perfectly flat.  Sent me a photo.  So hopefully all the other ships were the same.

[ziggyuk]

13 minutes ago, MotownVoice said:

An airplane has to. ......

 

Wait for it........

 

Land.  

 

Oh my, thats some education you have    😂

[gooch47]

This is a little vague, but we were tied up at the dock at a different island when there was an earthquake in Martinique.  The ship did "wiggle" a little, barely enough to notice.  The captain announced at dinner that there was a nearby earthquake.

[gooch47]

16 minutes ago, gooch47 said:

This is a little vague, but we were tied up at the dock at a different island when there was an earthquake in Martinique.  The ship did "wiggle" a little, barely enough to notice.  The captain announced at dinner that there was a nearby earthquake.

We were docked at Antiqua.  Earthquake was said to be about 5 miles away, so probably not Martinique.  It was in April of 2018.

Edited January 30, 2020 by gooch47

[Caroldoll]

On 1/30/2020 at 7:11 AM, ziggyuk said:

 

An Airplane

LOL.  yOU HAVE A POINT, unless it is landing,  LOL

[ziggyuk]

6 hours ago, Caroldoll said:

LOL.  yOU HAVE A POINT, unless it is landing,  LOL

Hehehe 😉

[AviationInScale]

On 1/29/2020 at 11:41 AM, anykiad said:

Hi Everyone,

So we're cruising on March 3rd and I'm so excited. But I'm super nervous about the Earthquakes. I know they can cause large waves and I know that I'm most likely being ridiculous. But I can't help but wonder has anyone had any experiences with earthquakes while near the shore or on the ship? 

 

You're right. You're being ridiculous.

[cb at sea]

Caribbean earthquakes don't generally cause tsunamis....it's possible, but quite rare.  If you're AT SEA, you would never even notice a generated wave....it's only when it gets into shallow waters that it becomes evident.  

[evandbob]

The OP asked about effects on land, or shore, as well as at sea.  If they notice the water at the beach receding, they should leave that area.  If the beach empties all water, they should run twice as fast to higher ground.

 

Otherwise, relax, and when home, they can tell horrific stories about how they "survived" an epic earthquake.

[anykiad]

5 hours ago, AviationInScale said:

 

You're right. You're being ridiculous.

I'd rather be ridiculous than rude. 

[lenquixote66]

I was in a hotel in an earthquake and felt nothing.I was in a casino in one and did not feel it.

[cruiser mom2]

Living in California we have  Big & small earthquake . They don’t last long( though it sometime feels longer then you think) less then a minute then you just go on with what your doing. You can’t predict them so enjoy your cruise. 

[slidergirl]

On 1/29/2020 at 1:38 PM, chengkp75 said:

I was working on the Pride of Aloha when the 2006 earthquake hit.  We were just docking in Honolulu, and the ship gave a slight "wiggle", like when a tug boat strikes the ship, and the streetlights were seen to be waving back and forth.  This was a 6.7 magnitude quake, centered near the Hawaiian Islands.

 

As for ships at sea, tsunamis are virtually undetectable at sea, they may mot be over 2-3 feet high, it is just when the high velocity water rises in the shallows that the very high waves of a tsunami form.

I was flying to Hawaii the day that earthquake struck.  We were past the return point, so the plane had to keep going. Landed in HNL, no power in terminals or no way to run jetways. Waited patiently for about 2 hours for our turn at using one of the stairs on trucks.  Then, had to wait a few more hours to get a flight to the Big Island (our destination).  Our hotel was out in the area close go the epicenter.  Definitely some structural damage, and things tossed around in the rooms.  Our hotel fared better than others, like the Mauna Kea, so the hotel took in people from there (the Mauna Kea ended up having to stay closed for quite awhile for repairs). The kitchen made a big BBQ out of everything they could make on grills outside.  Some people slept outside on the pool and beach loungers.  The next few days, we had the "wake up" aftershocks that we remember from California quakes.   Sure would have liked to be on Pride of Aloha then!!!  

[chengkp75]

9 hours ago, slidergirl said:

I was flying to Hawaii the day that earthquake struck.  We were past the return point, so the plane had to keep going. Landed in HNL, no power in terminals or no way to run jetways. Waited patiently for about 2 hours for our turn at using one of the stairs on trucks.  Then, had to wait a few more hours to get a flight to the Big Island (our destination).  Our hotel was out in the area close go the epicenter.  Definitely some structural damage, and things tossed around in the rooms.  Our hotel fared better than others, like the Mauna Kea, so the hotel took in people from there (the Mauna Kea ended up having to stay closed for quite awhile for repairs). The kitchen made a big BBQ out of everything they could make on grills outside.  Some people slept outside on the pool and beach loungers.  The next few days, we had the "wake up" aftershocks that we remember from California quakes.   Sure would have liked to be on Pride of Aloha then!!!  

One power plant on Oahu tripped due to the quake, and that started a domino effect that tripped off all power for the entire island.  It took a couple of hours, but we had portable electrical power stations that we use for powering contractor equipment during shipyards, and we took those out into the terminal to power the computers to process the departing guests.  At that point, we didn't know the whole island was out.  Once we learned that HNL was shut down, we offered guests the opportunity to return to the ship and stay the night, as we were the only place around with power.  Arriving guests on flights that had made it to the islands were welcome onboard as well.  I told the HD that we should get some rubber hand stamps and start charging cover charge for anyone to come and eat/drink, and we would make a fortune as we were the only place open for business.

[slidergirl]

13 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

One power plant on Oahu tripped due to the quake, and that started a domino effect that tripped off all power for the entire island.  It took a couple of hours, but we had portable electrical power stations that we use for powering contractor equipment during shipyards, and we took those out into the terminal to power the computers to process the departing guests.  At that point, we didn't know the whole island was out.  Once we learned that HNL was shut down, we offered guests the opportunity to return to the ship and stay the night, as we were the only place around with power.  Arriving guests on flights that had made it to the islands were welcome onboard as well.  I told the HD that we should get some rubber hand stamps and start charging cover charge for anyone to come and eat/drink, and we would make a fortune as we were the only place open for business.

I was trying to make backup plans for spending the night on Oahu if we couldn't get to KOA.  No one would/could answer phones.  What our island-hopper airline (Jet at the time) did was just push everyone's flights so that the first flight was with people who had the first cancelled flight and just kept rotating.  At least we were all calm and cooperating since there was nothing else to do - no "do you who I am" or "do you know how much I paid" got anyone on a plane faster.  We didn't even worry about our bags - they said they just put on as many as they could at a time and we could eventually see them at KOA.  We lucked out - the suitcase and 1 golf bag was already there and the 2nd golf bag came on the next flight.  

[clo]

14 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

I told the HD that we should get some rubber hand stamps and start charging cover charge for anyone to come and eat/drink, and we would make a fortune as we were the only place open for business.

Great story 🙂

[Amion68]

Are you my wife? 

 

Seriously, we are booked on to a Caribbean cruise and my wife is worries about exactly the same, so you're not alone.

 

I'm sure we'll all be just fine....just as long as we are far away from China!

Edited February 4, 2020 by Amion68
amend

[sanger727]

I was in Hilo in a Hawaii when a decent sized set of earthquakes hit (think the largest was an 8. something). 

 

The earthquakes were not a problem. The volcano activity that accompanied them was the scary part. LOL. We were in the volcano national park when it hit and our tour guide noticed all the buses stopped on the size of the road. We looked over and one of the Calderas which had been emitting a bit of white smoke before now had huge grey/orange clouds of smoke billowing out of it. We asked him if that was ok and he said no. We prompted turned around and left; we did find out later that the park was evacuated and closed shortly after. But no, outside of it being an experience, it was fine. I wouldn't be worried about earthquakes in the future. They are so hard to predict. Our ship was docked at the time and was perfectly fine.