Yesterday's rumbling reminder inspired me to show the people outside of a disaster zone why at first glance an unrelated event that does not directly impact their own little piece of the world actually does. If you look at the links below, you will see Dahon's own headquarters in North America and how close it is to the epicenter of yesterday's earthquake.
This is the actual location of Dahon. It is a warehouse located in a run down section of the San Gabriel Valley.
Dahon Headquarters In Duarte CA
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...=16&iwloc=addr
Here is another map showing the distance between yesterday's epicenter and the Global Headquarters o f Dahon.
Chino Hills to Duarte
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sadd...=UTF8&t=h&z=11
As you can see, it is not far at all. There was damage from the earthquake reported much farther away-60 miles to say the least. What doe this has to do with 99% of the readers on this forum? Plenty!
Dahon's employees probably are scattered across the basin. They may not be able to get to work for days, maybe weeks assuming that the warehouse is not heavily damaged, looted, or destroyed. That means no bikes or parts shipped out or in. And new models of Dahons will not be designed for the next year and the years to come on time.
Roadways, train tracks, shipping lanes, airport runways might be damaged or destroyed. Same thing as above-no bikes, no bike parts.
Thor USA and other out-of-disaster zone Dahon Stocking Dealers bike shops attempt to fill in the gap left by the temporary or permanent loss of the headquarters-and the Port Of Los Angeles. Depending on the amount of inventory available within their own shops, they will also suffer eventually.
And other corporations that have nothing to do with bikes will suffer as well. Food, clothing and other both locally produced and imported goods will disappear from all over the country in various degrees. This will mean higher prices on top of the other increases seen since January. So don't laugh it off.
Here are some videos of how Dahon will probably look like after the “Big One.”:
http://www.sandimas.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=248&Itemid=1
http://www.wikio.com/video/340858
While these videos were actally taken at the Incycle bike shop located in San Dimas, the results are still the same.