Some tourists waiting in line for “Earthquake:...

Some tourists waiting in line for “Earthquake: The Big One” on the Universal Studios Tour Monday morning no doubt wondered if the ride had begun ahead of schedule.

In fact, spokeswoman Joan Bullard said, some visitors suspected “we were pulling some kind of stunt on them” when the real-life 4.5-magnitude quake and 4.3 aftershock struck.

As for those inside the subway station set, where a simulated 8.3 temblor hits every few minutes, “They didn’t feel anything.”

Why not?

“Because a 4.5 quake doesn’t really compare to an 8.3,” Bullard said.

That’s Hollywood--where the fault line between fantasy and reality tends to blur.

Meanwhile, in Exposition Park, some fourth-grade schoolchildren were waiting in the “Earthquake” exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry when the aftershock hit. “Earthquake” also rocks visitors several times a day with simulated 8.3 quakes.

“I told the kids this was the real thing,” said guide Dean Arvidson. “I’m not sure they knew at first.”

The children were evacuated but brought back a few minutes later and, rather than exhibiting fear, “seemed more excited about feeling the simulated one,” Arvidson said.

He added that the real shaker “felt stronger.” In the simulated one, he pointed out, “only the floor moves.” But this time, “everything moved.”

The quakes emptied the chamber where the county Board of Supervisors was meeting. When the hearing resumed an hour later, Supervisor Ed Edelman noted mournfully that the television crews had not returned.

The 4.5 jolt didn’t move Filberto Martinez, though.

“Like a little punch,” the 165-pounder said as he taped his hands for the day’s workout at the Azteca Boxing Club in Bell.

Kate Hutton, the Caltech seismologist who was interviewed by numerous reporters Monday, has been talking about the “big one” recently in several magazines--and sounding like she was looking forward to it.

Only she was referring to another type of “big one.”

In full-page ads for the California Lottery, Hutton reveals that the numbers she plays correspond to those associated with the 1906 San Francisco quake.

The ad concludes: “I just thought I’d use the last big one to win the next big one.”

Fortunately, this wasn’t the big one--seismologically speaking--or someone might have echoed the last words of Dr. Vance (played by the late Lloyd Nolan) in the movie, “Earthquake.”

Gazing at the rubble that formerly was Los Angeles, Vance sighs and says:

“This used to be a helluva town.”