Dartmouth Woman Provides More Details on Earthquake Experience
ANAHEIM, CA — A Dartmouth woman and her family had an experience of a lifetime while vacationing in California, but it's one they would like to forget.
Christine Lebeau Oliveira, a guidance counselor for Fairhaven Public Schools, tells WBSM News that her family had traveled to San Diego to watch her 12-year-old daughter play in a national soccer tournament. She says the family decided to turn the soccer trip into an extended vacation.
On Thursday, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck the Los Angeles area - the largest temblor in the region in two decades. On Friday, an even stronger 7.1 magnitude quake hit Kern County.
On Thursday during the first earthquake, Oliveira says she was at Disneyland with her family when things just didn't seem right.
"My husband and kids were on a ride and I decided not to go," said Oliveria.
" I suddenly felt dizzy, it took a couple of moments to process what was going on. I saw security guards come out of various different locations. My family came running back at me and told me they had closed the ride."
After the scare, Oliveira told WBSM News that things went back to normal. Rides opened up 20 minutes later, and it seemed as if it was something Californians were used to. Oliveira and her family were aware of the possibility of an aftershock, but they barely felt the earthquake, so they did not think much of it.
On Friday night, Oliveira says she and her family were at their hotel, packing up and getting ready to head to bed due to an early flight the next morning when the second earthquake shook the room.
"My daughter and I were sitting on the couch, we looked at each other, and we both started swaying back and forth," said Oliveria.
" Again, it took us a few minutes to process because it is not a feeling you experience every day. We realized that this time, it was much worse. I was very scared."
Oliveria stated she and her family were able to get out of the hotel and into the parking lot where the rest of the guests were standing as well. To her observations, Oliveira was relieved no one was hurt.
"The hotel staff reviewed the escape route with everybody in the case that it would happen again. Our flight was in six hours, so we felt like it was safe to stay in the hotel until it was time to head to the airport," she said.