Disaster Earthquake Movies

[Maral Mende]

My all-time favorite over the years has been The Day After Tomorrow (2004). Call me biased since it\u2019s a climate-related disaster film, but what I\u2019ve found most interesting is that some of the science once ruled as fantastical has since become reality (specifically the disruption of the North Atlantic current).

Dante's Peak (1997) - A volcanologist warns a small town about an impending volcanic eruption and is ignored and even disciplined by town officials and his supervisors, respectively. Dante\u2019s Peak is one of the more scientifically accurate disaster films on this list, mostly because it drew inspiration from the real-world events prior to the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens, as well as the 1985 Nevado del Ruiz eruption in Colombia.

Though watching Twister (1996) became difficult for me for personal reasons, it\u2019s a great film for weather junkies. Storm chasers predict tornadoes, but their warnings often go unheeded. The warnings made in Twister aren\u2019t quite like the Day After Tomorrow or Dante\u2019s Peak in which one major event looms on the horizon. Rather, scientists issue several warnings - to the public and even to each other - that are ignored.

Volcano (1997) is one of my favorite schlocky disaster flicks. Two seismologists who believe there\u2019s a secret fissure beneath Las Angeles must convince authorities of an impending volcanic eruption. One of the scientists dies, and the main character (played by Tommy Lee Jones) repeatedly ignores and even scoffs at the warnings.

Two of my all-time favorite foreign films - The Wave (2015) and The Quake (2018) - are Norwegian disaster films about landslides and earthquakes, starring the same cast and concerned with the same issues of warning the public, balancing caution and hysteria, and on the more meta level, scientific obsession. The lead character in both films does everything he can to convince his fellow scientists and even his own family that he\u2019s not crazy. Turns out, he wasn\u2019t. The Wave is based on the true story of the 1934 rock-slide triggered tsunami which destroyed Tafjord, Norway.

If you haven\u2019t seen Ray Liotta\u2019s 1994 film \u201CNo Escape,\u201D you\u2019re not alone - the movie absolutely bombed. \u201CNo Escape\u201D fits squarely in the post-apocalyptic action genre with films like Mad Max, but between all the gunfire and chaos is a climatologist whose warnings are completely ignored. The original film title was \u201CPrison Colony,\u201D but like Waterworld and to a lesser extent the Hunger Games, the film\u2019s premise is intimately tied to climate change.

If you want a film where the main cast are not politicians or experts, but straight-up ignore warnings from scientists, friends, and family, then \u201CThe Perfect Storm\u201D (2000) fits the bill (Not to be confused with the 1999 Stephen King thriller \u201CStorm of the Century,\u201D which also takes place in New England). The Perfect Storm is based on the real-life story of the Andrea Gale, a fishing vessel sunk by Hurricane Grace (1991) which, as described in the movie, was absorbed by a nor\u2019easter which started as a cold front, and then combined to form a new hurricane. In meteorological terms, it was bonkers. Neither the ship nor anyone from the crew were ever recovered.

The U.S. Geological Survey is the lead federal agency responsible for researching, monitoring and forecasting geologic hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides. And we have the further responsibility to educate Americans about the real hazards they face and to separate science fact from science fantasy.

The two most important variables affecting earthquake damage are the intensity of ground shaking caused by the quake and the quality of the engineering of structures in the region. The level of shaking, in turn, is controlled by the proximity of the earthquake source to the affected region and the types of rocks that seismic waves pass through en route (particularly those at or near the ground surface). Generally, the bigger and closer the earthquake, the stronger the shaking. But there have been large earthquakes with very little damage either because they caused little shaking or because the buildings were built to withstand that shaking. In other cases, moderate earthquakes have caused significant damage either because the shaking was locally amplified, or more likely because the structures were poorly engineered.

So when you see the next big disaster film, rest assured that movies are just entertainment. Enjoy them! And then go learn about the real-world science behind disasters and if you live in an area where hazards exist, take the suggested steps to protect you and your family.

Earthquake is a 1974 American ensemble disaster drama film directed and produced by Mark Robson[2] and starring Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner. The plot concerns the struggle for survival after a catastrophic earthquake destroys most of the city of Los Angeles, California.

Directed by Robson with a screenplay by George Fox and Mario Puzo, the film starred a large cast of well-known actors, including Heston, Gardner, George Kennedy, Lorne Greene, Genevive Bujold, Richard Roundtree, Marjoe Gortner, Barry Sullivan, Lloyd Nolan, Victoria Principal, and (under an alias) Walter Matthau. It is notable for the use of an innovative sound effect called Sensurround, which created the sense of actually experiencing an earthquake in theaters.

Former college football star Stewart Graff argues with his wife Remy after she fakes another suicide attempt when a mild earthquake jolts Los Angeles. Furious, Graff visits Denise Marshall, a part-time actress and widow of a co-worker who he assigned to the project that accidentally killed him. Feeling obligated to help her and Corry, her ten-year-old son, Graff brings the boy an autographed football from his college days, and helps Denise rehearse her lines for an upcoming film shoot.

Officer Lew Slade chases a car thief. After crossing jurisdictional lines, he is intercepted by a rival deputy from a neighboring district. Already enemies with a history of antagonism, Slade hits the deputy, resulting in his suspension.

At the California Seismological Institute (CSI), junior seismologist Walter Russell calculates that Los Angeles will suffer a major earthquake within the next two days. Head seismologist Dr. Stockle and associate Dr. Johnson determine the hypothesis probable and contact the mayor, who, fearful of the social and political consequences, decides to tell the Governor of California to alert only the National Guard and police as a precaution.

In a vacant lot, motorcycle daredevil, Miles Quade, and his manager and mechanic, Sal Amici, have set up a dangerous stunt track, hoping to impress a Las Vegas promoter, so he will book their act at a hotel. Unconvinced that the stunt will work, Sal's sister, Rosa Amici, fears that Miles will be injured in the attempt and refuses to help promote it.

Grocery store manager, Jody Joad, who is attracted to Rosa, is a member of a National Guard unit being called up, and heads home to change into his uniform. His housemates harass him for having posters of male bodybuilders on his wall, using homosexual slurs.

Another small tremor cancels Denise's film shoot for the day, so she goes to meet her friend, Barbara, a secretary at Graff's engineering firm. Graff bumps into Denise in the building's lobby. The pair return to her house and have sex for the first time. Graff then asks Denise to come to Oregon with him, and bring Corry, while he works on a hydroelectric dam project that summer.

Graff's boss and father-in-law, Sam Royce, later offers Graff the company presidency. Graff calls Denise to say he cannot see her that evening, and she says she wants to go to Oregon with him. Conflicted between the relationship and the promotion, Graff nevertheless decides to accept Sam's offer. At Sam's office, Graff is stunned to find Remy, who convinced Sam to offer the promotion to save their marriage. Angered, Graff admits the affair with Denise, deciding to end their marriage.

An earthquake measuring 9.9 on the Richter Scale strikes then destroys much of Los Angeles. Sam and others are trapped on the upper floors of the skyscraper, which catches fire, due to the escape stairs collapsing and the elevator being destroyed by the tremor. After many fall to their deaths through the chasm, Sam rigs a firehose to a chair and lowers the rest of his staff down one at a time. Before he can descend himself, Sam suffers a heart attack, but Graff rescues him.

Corry has been catapulted from a collapsing footbridge into the Los Angeles River and become entangled with electric cables from a fallen pole. Denise finds him unconscious and climbs down to save him. Unable to climb back out, she hails a passing truck, driven by Miles and Sal. After saving them, they meet up with Slade, who knows Miles and Sal (after arresting both a year prior during a biker riot), and commandeers the truck to use as an ambulance, while Miles takes his motorcycle to search for Rosa. Slade stays in the area with additional injured, while Sal drives the rest to a makeshift field hospital being set up at the Wilson Plaza, a combination office building and underground mall and parking structure that survived the earthquake.

Rosa is mistakenly arrested for looting by a National Guard unit led by Jody. He orders her to stay inside a secluded store for what he says is her safety. More troops arrive with Jody's housemates, who are also being detained for looting. To the shock of his troops, Jody taunts then murders them for the ridicule he has endured.

Graff drives his co-workers to the Wilson Plaza, dropping off Remy, Barbara, and Sam. To Remy's protestations, Graff leaves to search for Denise and Corry. Sam is attended to by Dr. Jim Vance, but dies.

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