In this movie, I heard the cause of the gigantic earthquake was a corner of Southern California actually breaking off! The section was located in Los Angeles. Relatively speaking, something of that magnitude is impossible and could never happen. Or could it?
shareHowdy
being a good trivia guy on Earthquake, there is never any mention of this in the movie at all.
The only real reference about California falling into the ocean is a joke made by Lou the Cop ( George Kennedy ) in one of the bar scenes
The King of TV Comedy : John Ritter
Howdie Doodie to you too,
I guess after he said that, some people thought he was serious and thought that was the cause of the earthquake. It was a joke. Thanks!
Right before the film was released, there was a book called "The Late Great State of California" by Curt Gentry (published in 1969). The whole plot of the book is California (literally) falling off into the ocean via a massive quake. I think this is where the rumor was popularized.
Good book, by the way (if a bit dated by now).
"It's people..."
"The Late Great State of California?"? meaning that California is dead or gone? A chip of Southern California (Los Angeles) breaking off into the ocean would cause the most gigantic earthquake in the history of mankind. That book you mentioned is about all of California falling off into the ocean? Absurd. Why not Washington, Oregon, Maine, Florida or any of the other coastal states?
shareBecause no one cares about those states...
(just kidding)
Dude... it's fiction. Much like the entire plot of "The Day After Tomorrow." It's entertainment.
And, the idea of California falling off into the Pacific Ocean IS absurd from a geological standpoint. But, that being said, for decades, the notion that California falling away has been a popular "urban myth" (tongue in cheek at that).
The point of the book is to see what life would be like should California cease to exist (and, some wish it would!), and it uses the guise of the largest earthquake ever to do it.
"It's people..."
I remember when I was a very young child growing up in Los Angeles – around 1976 – there was a commercial for earthquake preparedness that a model of the west cost of the United States… it began to shake, and California broke off and drifted off into the Pacific Ocean. As a five year-old I took it literally. For several years – constantly hearing about the ‘Big One’ (which still hasn’t occurred, by the way) – I was terrified. I even begged my parents to move.
I didn’t help that a babysitter once let me watch the movie EARTHQUAKE on television. Man, it freaked me out for years!
I am sorry that happened and it scared the hell out of you. Commercials weren't very politically correct or child-senistive back then. I am glad you got out of LA and Southern CA. I wish I could someday for a change of pace.
shareWe lived near the San Andreas fault and I remember my Dad saying, "Just think. If it breaks off we'll have beach front property." And, of course, my mother would laugh and say it really depends on what side of the fault line we were on.
shareIIRC, The Late Great State of California was about an unprecedented earthquake that causes everything west of the San Andreas Fault to be swallowed up by the ocean. That's a pretty sizeable chunk of California, though not the entire state. Geologically speaking, the idea is preposterous, of course.
All the universe . . . or nothingness. Which shall it be, Passworthy? Which shall it be?
[deleted]
Why not Washington, Oregon, Maine, Florida or any of the other coastal states?
Because, unlike California, those states don't sit on the boundary between two of the earth's crustal plates. Ever hear of a little thing called the San Andreas Fault?
All the universe . . . or nothingness. Which shall it be, Passworthy? Which shall it be?
Actually there is an even more powerful fault off the coast of Washington and Oregon than the San Andreas, just that it only goes off at about 9 magnitude every 500 years or so and we still have about 200 more to go until it's next one is due. The San Andreas produces regular quakes at about 8 magnitude, LA is overdue and the big quake and Tsunami in Indonesia back in 2004 seems to have freed up the pacific plate like pulling out the wrong block in a game of Jenga. I would not be surprised if it came very soon, but ultimately no one knows.
shareThe "urban legend" of California sliding off into the ocean is connected to the great San Andreas Fault, which runs from So. Cal all the way through San Francisco. The idea is the section West of the fault line would "slide" into the sea, which is very unlikely. That particular fault can cause a major event, and there are other issues such as "sympathy quakes" on different fault lines that could be pressured by movement.
One knowing scene in the film involves the trench through the rancher's property. There is such a location in Parkfield, CA, east of Paso Robles in Central CA, which is one of the most seismically active areas in North America. There is a permanent "field lab" set up there with all kinds of measuring equipment, from Richter scale movement sensors to auditory and radio frequency monitors. The hope is to identify an "precursor" to a quake. Any amount of warning, even 10 minutes, could save countless lives.
While cheesy, for its time, Earthquake is well researched.
Open the pod bay doors, Hal.
probably 78,300 megas w/ cheese! from peach pit nat! texas t.! what are you doing around these parts??! good to see ya posting.
sake happens
In the book mentioned Arizona becomes beach front along the San Andreas fault which runs through the Sea of Cortez up the coast range of California and out and up the coastline through Point Arena (Fort Ross area). Actually the story of California breaking off has long been known. In 1968 we had 2 dates set for the earthquake to happen. We were sitting on the gym floor discussing it.In reality our tectonic plate,according to scientists in the last few years, will slide past San Francisco in about 25 thousand years. Not break off, just head north and recently I read in National Geographic (Oct.2012) that in maybe 100 thousand years all the land masses will come together in another mega continent and then head out in new directions.
share