Earthquake while diving

[ange2014]

Hi there,

Has anyone ever experienced an earthquake while diving? What was it like? What kind of risks do earthquakes pose to divers under water and what does one need to do if caught in a sufficiently major one?

Thanks in advance for your response.

 

[chrisch]

On our trimix course in Lake Garda, Italy there was a small quake. The results were a light current - something that is unusual for the lake. It messed up our shot lines. Beyond that it was unremarkable.

 

[xmass-Eve]

I have been diving during several earthquakes in Indo. Most of the time, we didn't even know until we were back in the shop. Fishes do come out of their corals though, but you don't really think about an earthquake at the time. Only once we heard a minor rumble.

 

[Wingy]

Have dived through five I know of - mostly in the magnitude 5 range but one big one - 8.6 off Sumatras west coast...I felt nothing. In Vanuatu where they're pretty much weekly if not more I watched a crevice in a reef "breathe" which alerted me to an event of some sort. Have also only known when we got back to land. On Bangka in the days before wifi or phones a small tsunami type wave came through the night - we didn't know til we got back to Manado there was a reason we suddenly had on ocean bungalows

Really I guess your question leads to risk - there is generally none - which leads to the Tsunami question - the risk is being in shallow water. Tsunamis need certain conditions and they get their run up and height in shallow waters. All quakes are different, not all are noticeable not all create tsunamis.

So risk wise - minimal to barely existent. Statistically...

 

[drbill]

Living in California, I have dived through a few relatively small earthquakes and had no idea until well after I surfaced they had occurred. I don't plan on being "down under" for The Big One though.

 

[MargaritaMike]

I don't plan on being "down under" for The Big One though.

You ARE going to let us know the days you don't dive and the reason why, right?

 

[ange2014]

Thank you for all your response. Good to know there is minimal risk.

 

[StefinSB]

I experienced two quakes this year about 10 seconds apart. The second one was a 6.0 with the epicenter less than a mile away. Living in California I am “used” to small quakes but under water it is a bit different. On land you move but under water you really see the bottom moving which was a bit bizarre at first. Water also transmits sounds very well so it was quite noisy. I got a bit of vertigo during the second quake but nothing too bad. Staying calm is the key here as with most things in life.

 

[Tool Belt]

Just watch those "swim-throughs"!

 

[Jack Hammer]

I went through an earthquake while cave diving, wasn't a big deal, didn't know until later