Walt Disney World park guests were left confused after various rides unexpectedly shut down midday.
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According to various park guests, officials decided to close several attractions after a 6.1-magnitude earthquake was felt throughout Florida on Monday. Fox Weather reported that the geological phenomenon occurred shortly after 2 p.m., with the epicenter approximately 64 miles away from Mantua, Cuba.
The earthquake was estimated to be around 16 miles. However, no tsunami warning was issued afterward.
Shortly after the earthquake, park guests took to Reddit to share what had happened.
“I didn’t feel anything,” one park guest, who appeared to be at Magic Kingdom, stated. “But there [are] a TON of rides down right now. Most coasters. Tiana’s, Tron, Barnstormer, Space Mountain, 7 Dwarves, and BTM are all down right now.”
Another Disney World fan also wrote, “They evacuated the feature animation building at Hollywood Studios, and ride operations shut down for a few minutes (per cast member spouse). I live 8 miles from the parks, and I definitely felt it at my house.”
“Line at Big Thunder Mountain was cleared with Cast Member stating operations were being suspended around the park due to the earthquake,” a fellow park guest wrote. “App at that time showed all attractions temporarily closed. We are now just shy of an hour from that announcement with only roller coasters are still down and, oddly, Country Bears.”
Florida Residents React to the Earthquake
A little over 24 hours after the earthquake, a 4.3-magnitude aftershock occurred. Reports shared that it in the same region of the Gulf where the seismic activiwas ty occurred.
Meanwhile, Florida residents spoke about how they felt about Monday afternoon’s earthquake.
Britnee Jeffries, a Tampa Bay resident, told the local news outlet WFLA about her experience with the earthquake. ‘It was very strong, and it was honestly kind of scary. I wasn’t really worried in a sense that I thought it was here because we don’t get earthquakes here. But at the same time, I was worried because we don’t get them here.”
Barbara German, a resident of Ruskin, Florida, also shared with fellow local news outlet WTVT that she was upstairs in her home working when she felt the tremors. “It was kind of alarming at first because I really didn’t know what it was,” she recalled.