EARTHQUAKE: DISASTER BEFORE DAWN : Tourist Crosses ‘Earthquake’ Ride Off the Itinerary

Talk about the authentic Southern California experience.

“We had been planning to go to Universal Studios Tuesday, where they have the earthquake ride,” said Nick Stevens, 40, a visitor from Australia. “Now we won’t have to bother.”

For Stevens and other tourists in Los Angeles, the earthquake Monday was a not-so-subtle reminder of the pleasures of home.

Mel and Sue Woods had brought their two children to Disneyland this week to escape devastating brush fires that burned within half a mile of their home in Sydney, Australia.

But at 4:31 a.m. Monday, they were jolted awake in their Anaheim motel by yet another natural disaster.

“It was horrible, scary,” Sue Woods said.

Even quake-hardened visitors from Japan found the experience unsettling.

“I’m from (eastern Japan), where we have a lot of earthquakes, but I’ve never been in one this big,” said Kyoko Ando, a 21-year-old student. “I just wanted to get up from bed, but I couldn’t stand up. At first I thought, oh, just an earthquake, then, wow, it was rough!”

One young couple from Japan told Tsuyami Miyamoto, manager of the Dove shoe store at the New Otani Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles, that the quake was “a good experience. . . . They said the shaking was different (from Japanese earthquakes).”

Some visitors from Hawaii, where earthquakes are not as common, were less sanguine. “If we could leave right this minute, we’d take the plane and go back to Hawaii,” said Janice Tokuno, visiting Los Angeles for a trade show.

For some visitors, the quake brought back terrifying memories. Tourist Tania Avram was reminded of a 1977 earthquake that severely damaged Bucharest, Romania, her hometown. That 7.2 magnitude quake killed 1,541 and injured 11,000.

“It was like reliving a nightmare,” Avram said. She had brought her family down from the 12th floor of the Anaheim Hilton and Towers’ to the lobby. Ninety minutes after the quake, she and husband Vasile were nibbling nervously on a muffin while daughters Alicia, 5, and Ellie, 3, slept soundly on a couch. The family now lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Vasile Avram--who had left Romania before the 1977 quake--said he was struck by how calm the Californians were.

“One guy came down the hall saying, ‘Don’t worry about it, it’s not going to get any worse. Just go back to sleep,’ ” Avram said.