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In this time of the clash of continents, a great earthquake split the land. Herds were divided, families were cut in two. Littlefoot was separated from his grandparents. |
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— Narrator, The Land Before Time
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The Great Earthshake was a huge earthquake that occurs in the first act of The Land Before Time. According to the narrator, it was created by two continents colliding. It took place at dawn and separated and killed many herds, including the main character's. It created a huge crack called the Great Divide, leading down to the "Big Underground". Many dinosaurs fell down the cracks, among them Sharptooth. Littlefoot and Cera nearly fell as well but Littlefoot's Mother saved them. There was also a stampede of Saurolophus, Parasaurolophus, flyers, Ornithomimus, Dimetrodon, and Velociraptor. By the earthshake's climax, one side of the divide started slowly rising up, separating herds everywhere. Among the dinosaurs stuck on the high portion included Grandma and Grandpa Longneck, Daddy Topps and Cera's mother, (all of whom survived the earthshake), while Littlefoot, Cera and Littlefoot's Mother were trapped on the lower portion.
None of the Land Before Time Earthshakes, including the Great Earthshake, had any onscreen aftershocks.
The event is mentioned twice in later films. In the Stone of Cold Fire, Grandpa Longneck mentions the event when he explains to Littlefoot and his friends why Pterano was expelled from the Great Valley. Later in the Great Longneck Migration, it's revealed that Littlefoot's father Bron managed to evade the Great Earthshake since he was trying to find a new home for his family. However as a result, he ended up getting separated from them.
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