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Taylor Gomm

Professor Nielsen

Natural Disasters

23 April 2019

San Andreas Movie Review

San Andreas is a disaster film directed by Brad Peyton. Throughout the film they

experience multiple natural disasters including earthquakes and tsunamis. It was an amazing

film full of suspense and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. In the film they are

working on a method to help us predict when and where earthquakes will occur. The film begins

with two Sociologists doing some research at the Hoover Dam. As they are doing this research

an earthquake occurs killing one of them. At this point the other Seismologist start to figure out

what is going on. The San Andreas fault is separating causing hundreds of very high magnitude

earthquakes.

The movie focuses on one specific family. Dwayne Johnson who plays Ray, his daughter

Blake, and his ex wife Emma. Ray is a part of Los Angeles fire and rescue team so when the

disaster ensues he does all he can to find his ex wife and daughter. Emma and Ray are faced

with many trials trying to find each other as these earthquakes are occuring. The disaster moves

the story along on Ray and Emma's journey to find their daughter Emma.

After watching this film I did some research on this specific type of earthquake. The

cause, the after effects, as well as how to be prepared for something like this. “Earthquakes are a

result of an instability in faulting that is so pervasive that on many faults most slip occurs during
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them…” (Scholz). Earthquakes occur when rock breaks beneath the surface this releases a large

amount of energy. This energy causes the ​seismic

waves to shake the earth. Currently, there is no

solid way to predict this type of disaster and it

doesn't look like we will ever have one.

“Unfortunately, most such precursors frequently

occur without being followed by an earthquake,

so a real prediction is not possible” (USGS). However, earthquakes aren't just something that

could go off anywhere at any time and scientists have narrowed down where they usually strike

which happens to primarily be on plate boundaries. Above is a photo of major fault lines where

earthquakes are more likely to occur.

Earthquakes are devastating disasters that have killed millions of people and leave behind

nothing but torn apart cities and families. In the movie Emma and Ray are looking at all of the

damage the earthquake caused and Emma asks Ray “So, what now?” to which he replies, “Now

we rebuild.” Although they lost so much in this disaster the hope that they will be able to come

back from this was relieving. I think the main thing that we can do to prevent this much

devastation and loss is be prepared for these types of emergency situations at all times. Make a

plan, secure your home as best you can, get an emergency kit, stay connected to your family and

community, check for hazards and most importantly drop, cover and hold on to something like a

desk or table.

Although I have never been in an earthquake and pray that I never am I think the film did

a really great job at depicting the reality of this disaster. Earthquakes cause tsunamis just like the
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movie, earthquakes shake buildings and homes down to the ground just like in the movie.

Overall, I felt the film San Andrea did a wonderful job of showing the audience how severe and

devastating all natural disasters can be.

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Works Cited

Scholz, C. H. ​The Mechanics of Earthquakes and Faulting.​ 3rd ed., Cambridge University Press,

2019.

Can You Predict Earthquakes?,​

www.usgs.gov/faqs/can-you-predict-earthquakes?qt-news_science_products=0#qt-news_

science_products.

“How to Prepare for an Earthquake.” ​California Academy of Sciences,​

www.calacademy.org/explore-science/how-to-prepare-for-an-earthquake.