what caused the earthquake in movie san andreas

Full Answer

Is the San Andreas movie about an earthquake?

Yes. In the San Andreas movie, a 9.6 magnitude earthquake hits San Francisco, which was triggered by a 9.1 magnitude quake in Los Angeles, following a 7.1 in Nevada.

What happened in the San Andreas earthquake?

The utter destruction seen in the 2015 movie San Andreas is more in line with the April 18, 1906 San Francisco earthquake than others in more recent years. Over 80% of San Francisco was destroyed and approximately 3,000 people lost their lives.

What happened to the dam in the San Andreas movie?

A 7.1 magnitude earthquake is triggered as a result, collapsing the dam; Park is killed during the collapse, shortly after rescuing a child. Following the disaster, Hayes discovers that the entire San Andreas Fault is shifting and will soon cause a series of major earthquakes, potentially destroying cities along the fault line.

What happens in the movie San Andreas?

Hollywood disaster flick San Andreas imagines what would happen to California once the long awaited massive earthquake, aka "The Big One," hits. In the movie, the Golden State splits open, buildings are leveled, the earthquake shakes the nation, and a tsunami overtakes San Francisco.

What caused the earthquake in San Andreas?

Tectonic Plate Boundaries The Pacific Plate (on the west) slides horizontally northwestward relative to the North American Plate (on the east), causing earthquakes along the San Andreas and associated faults.

What happened in San Andreas movie?

In the aftermath of a massive earthquake in California, a rescue-chopper pilot makes a dangerous journey with his ex-wife across the state in order to rescue his daughter. In San Andreas, California is experiencing a statewide earthquake that goes on record as easily the biggest earthquake in history.

Where does the earthquake happen in San Andreas movie?

In the film, opening this Friday, a previously unknown fault near the Hoover Dam in Nevada ruptures and jiggles the San Andreas. Southern California is rocked by a powerful magnitude-9.1 quake followed by an even stronger magnitude-9.6 in Northern California.

Was the San Andreas earthquake real?

The 1838 San Andreas earthquake is believed to be a rupture along the northern part of the San Andreas Fault in June 1838. It affected approximately 100 km (62 miles) of the fault, from the San Francisco Peninsula to the Santa Cruz Mountains.

What natural disasters occur in the movie San Andreas?

In the San Andreas movie, a 9.6 magnitude earthquake hits San Francisco, which was triggered by a 9.1 magnitude quake in Los Angeles, following a 7.1 in Nevada. U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Dr.

Is the tsunami in San Andreas possible?

Tsunami Science The San Andreas fault cannot create a big tsunami, as depicted in the movie.

Can the Hoover Dam withstand an earthquake?

The 59-year-old dam, which stands 726 feet high, provides power to areas of California, Nevada and Arizona. “Crews did a complete visual inspection of the dam and found no damage,” Walsh said. He said the dam was built to withstand “a very strong earthquake, in the range of 8.0.”

What is inaccurate about San Andreas movie?

1. The tsunami. The film show's dramatic depictions of a tsunami, but Jones said that the San Andreas fault could never generate a tsunami because the fault is on land. Most tsunamis are triggered by underwater quakes, but they can also be caused by landslides, volcanoes and even meteor impacts.

What caused the 9.5 earthquake in Chile?

A sudden breaking in the rocks along a roughly 560–620-mile (900–1,000-km) stretch of the Nazca Plate caused the earthquake, which has been generally agreed to have had a magnitude of 9.5—the largest earthquake recorded in the 20th century.

What was the worst earthquake in history?

Valdivia Earthquake1. Valdivia Earthquake (1960)– 9.5.

How long did the San Andreas earthquake last?

The great earthquake broke loose some 20 to 25 seconds later, with an epicenter near San Francisco. Violent shocks punctuated the strong shaking which lasted some 45 to 60 seconds.

What was the worst earthquake in US history?

The largest earthquake to hit the U.S. was on March 28, 1964, when a 9.2 magnitude quake struck Prince William Sound in Alaska....The Largest Earthquakes in the United States.RANK3.MAGNITUDE8.7DATEFeb. 4, 1965LOCATIONRat Islands, Alaska29 more columns

What happens at the end of San Andreas movie?

By the end of the movie, they're a space shuttle and an Old West locomotive away from filling their means of transportation bingo cards. Meanwhile, another even bigger earthquake hits California. The resulting tsunami takes out the Golden Gate Bridge and, more importantly, Emma's absolute turd of a boyfriend.

What happened at the end of San Andreas?

The End. Eventually, Tenpenny will lose control of the firetruck on Ganton Bridge and come crashing down onto Grove Street. Tenpenny climbs out of the truck and claims he kept the neighborhood safe, and that he'd do it all over again before dying.

Does Blake died in San Andreas movie?

Ray gets her out as she goes unconscious and finds Ben and Ollie. Emma rams the boat into the building and gets everyone out before the building completely comes down. Ray tries to revive Blake with CPR, but it looks like she is gone. Ray refuses to give up, and he eventually saves her.

What happened to the old couple in San Andreas?

An old couple, whose car has broken down close to the fault, own an airplane. They drive to an air field and, to say thank you, they give their vehicle to the old couple. After taking the plane to San Francisco, they become caught up in the magnitude 9.6 quake.

What would happen if the largest earthquake hit the West Coast?

The new disaster flick San Andreas takes a harsh look at what might happen if the largest earthquake in history struck the West Coast: crumbling skyscrapers, a towering tsunami and gaping gashes in the ground.

How many fires would a 8.0 earthquake cause?

In U.S. Geological Survey simulations, an 8.0 earthquake on the southern San Andreas Fault would cause an estimated 1,600 multi-alarm fires across the Los Angeles basin — fires requiring responses from mutliple fire stations at a time when even the nearest station might lack water, fuel, personnel or viable roads.

How big is the San Andreas earthquake?

Earthquake size: “The earthquakes are too big. They have a 9.1 and a 9.6 , and the largest earthquake that the San Andreas Fault can support is about an 8.0,” said Thomas Jordan, professor of Earth sciences at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and director of the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC).

Is San Andreas a tsunami maker?

San Andreas not a tsunami maker: A strike-slip fault such as the San Andreas cannot produce gigantic tsunamis as those seen in the movie or in real life in Japan and Southeast Asia.

Who is Benthien in the Great Shakeout?

Benthien, a White House Champion for Change, is one of the driving forces behind the annual Great ShakeOut earthquake drill. He encourages everyone to review the seven steps to earthquake safety. More information is available at earthquakecountry.org and in this video from the Federal Emergency Management Agency:

Who is the director of communications for SCEC?

Mark Benthien, director of communications for SCEC, said that the movie’s focus on downtown areas misses the reality for the vast majority of residents.

What is the San Andreas movie about?

Its plot centers on an earthquake caused by the San Andreas Fault devastating Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area .

How much did San Andreas make in its opening weekend?

It made $3.1 million from Thursday night showings and $18.2 million on its opening day. It earned $54.5 million in its opening weekend which was well above the tracking and predictions. It was Johnson's biggest opening as a lead actor, surpassing the $36 million debut of his The Scorpion King in 2002 even after adjusting for inflation. Warner Bros. distribution chief Dan Fellman commented about the successful opening, saying that audiences never get tired of disaster films, even going back to The Poseidon Adventure (1972). He added, "What also gets tiring is when you start to do sequels of the same thing. It needs to be fresh, and you have to have the right chemistry in the cast", pointing out the originality of the film, and the performances of Johnson and the other cast, as some of the factors behind the film's successful opening. In its second weekend, it experienced a drop of 52% earning an estimated $26.4 million, falling in second place (behind Spy ), but experiencing a smaller fall than that of other disaster movies.

How much did San Andreas make?

Box office. San Andreas grossed $155.2 million in North America and $318.8 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $474 million. It became the highest-grossing Warner Bros. film of 2015, and the fourteenth highest-grossing film worldwide overall.

What happened to Ray and Emma in the San Andreas Fault?

The pair encounter a couple broken down on the side of the road, shortly before the San Andreas Fault, which has torn a large fissure through the highway and extends for the perceivable length of the fault in either direction. Ray and Emma exchange the truck for an airplane the couple owns.

How good is San Andreas?

The website's critical consensus reads, " San Andreas has a great cast and outstanding special effects , but amidst all the senses-shattering destruction, the movie's characters and plot prove less than structurally sound." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 43 out of 100 based on 42 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.

What is the rating of San Andreas?

On Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, the film has an approval rating of 49% based on 247 reviews and an average rating of 5.20/10. The website's critical consensus reads, " San Andreas has a great cast and outstanding special effects, but amidst all the senses-shattering destruction, the movie's characters and plot prove less than structurally sound." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 43 out of 100 based on 42 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.

How did the Golden Gate Bridge collapse?

The ship bisects the Golden Gate Bridge 's center span in half, killing everyone on the bridge, including Daniel. The tsunami proceeds to strike the ruined city, capsizing a cruise ship in the process, and killing thousands more. Blake, Ben, and Ollie enter the Gate, a building whose construction Daniel had been overseeing, but are still caught by the wave. As the building begins to collapse, trapping Blake underwater, Ray dives in, rescues her, and begins performing CPR. Emma crashes the boat through a window and drives the five of them out of the collapsing building as Ray resuscitates Blake.

What is the Richter scale used for?

There’s a scene at the beginning of San Andreas where the seismologist Lawrence, played by Paul Giamatti, uses the term “Richter magnitude” when referring to a large earthquake. Now, Richter magnitude is used a lot by journalists, but the Richter scale is actually for local magnitude. It was developed for assessing small earthquakes in California, and so the actual scale cannot capture very large earthquakes. It’s unable to record them. Seismologists would, in fact, use something called the moment magnitude scale to measure these large events. It’s a small thing, but it’s just not the term we would use.

What scale do seismologists use to measure large events?

Seismologists would, in fact, use something called the moment magnitude scale to measure these large events. It’s a small thing, but it’s just not the term we would use. Paul Giamatti and Archie Panjabi in San Andreas. Photograph: Jasin Boland/AP.

Why is the film San Andreas negative?

In general, the death and destruction portrayed in the film is quite negative, because it inspires fatalism and promotes a sense of helplessness. The film also undermines seismic design. New buildings are designed to be resilient against earthquakes. They would be heavily damaged, but there would be time to get out of them before they might collapse. To see buildings crumbling in San Andreas suggests that engineers are unable to design against these sorts of events – this is simply not true. We can’t protect against every sort of damage, but we can ensure that buildings stand up in a way that allows people to escape.

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Why are new buildings so resilient?

New buildings are designed to be resilient against earthquakes. They would be heavily damaged, but there would be time to get out of them before they might collapse. To see buildings crumbling in San Andreas suggests that engineers are unable to design against these sorts of events – this is simply not true.

How does a tsunami happen in San Andreas?

Physically, an earthquake-triggered tsunami happens at a subduction fault, which San Andreas is not. San Andreas is a land-based fault, which moves along the rupture horizontally (by the way, the fault would never open up as it does in the movie, leaving a gaping chasm in the ground). As the fault is not under the water there is no way that it would actually displace any water and create a tsunami. The only physical thing that might have generated a tsunami would be an underwater landslide triggered from the ground shaking. It’s a possibility, I suppose.

What does Lawrence say about earthquakes?

At one point, Lawrence (Giamatti) says something along the lines of: “It’s not a matter of ‘there may or may not be an earthquake’, it’s when.”. That’s the case with most areas with high seismic activity. We have to prepare for when an earthquake will happen, because it will.

What was the magnitude of the San Andreas earthquake?

In the San Andreas movie, a 9.6 magnitude earthquake hits San Francisco, which was triggered by a 9.1 magnitude quake in Los Angeles, following a 7.1 in Nevada. U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones says that if you adjust the magnitudes for what's possible along the real San Andreas Fault, the movie's triggering pattern is plausible.

How high is a tsunami in the movie?

No. Seismologist Lucy Jones says that a large tsunami is 50 feet high. It is nowhere near the height of the tsunami in the movie, which washes over the Golden Gate Bridge's roadway, standing roughly 270 feet above the water. "They can't be bigger than the ocean is deep," says Jones ( CBSNews.com ). The surfing-wave style tsunami shown in ...

What would happen if the San Andreas fault opened?

If the San Andreas Fault could open up to the degree shown in the movie, there would be no friction, and it is friction that creates an earthquake. -The Hollywood Reporter. The movie's gaping chasm is completely impossible. Earthquakes happen because of friction and with a gap that wide, there would be no earthquake!

How far does the San Andreas fault run?

Recent quakes and the science of plate tectonics is discussed. The San Andreas Fault runs roughly 810 miles through California and forms the tectonic boundary between the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate. WATCH. 1989 San Francisco Earthquake Footage.

What was the largest earthquake in history?

No, but the Great Chilean earthquake that hit Chile on May 22, 1960 comes very close. It measured 9.5 in magnitude and is the largest earthquake ever recorded.

Where are tsunamis created?

Also, tsunamis caused by earthquakes are created at subduction zones, places where tectonic plates collide and one plate is pushed under another. As a result, the sea floor is deformed and a tsunami is created. There hasn't been an active subduction zone under San Francisco or Los Angeles for millions of years.

How many people died in San Andreas?

Over 80% of San Francisco was destroyed and approximately 3,000 people lost their lives.

What happened in the Golden State movie?

In the movie, the Golden State splits open, buildings are leveled, the earthquake shakes the nation, and a tsunami overtakes San Francisco. None of the previously mentioned scenarios are entirely accurate, especially when it comes to whether a San Andreas earthquake can cause a tsunami. More like this. The Best Face Mists To Have On Hand During A ...

Which fault line is most likely to cause a tsunami?

One major fault line that straddles both land and sea is the Ventura fault, which scientists believe runs a far greater risk for tsunamis than previously thought. The fault cuts straight through Ventura's picturesque ...

Can a tsunami occur on its own?

For an earthquake to cause a tsunami on its own, the quake typically has to take place within the water itself and through far more volatile movement than what a strike-slip fault allows. The possibility of the San Andreas fault triggering a tsunami on its own is highly unlikely, but there is the potential for an underwater landslide forcing one, ...

Is San Andreas a strike slip fault?

In addition to being a strike-slip fault, which moves plates laterally and rather minimally, the San Andreas fault primarily sits on land.

Where does the Ventura fault run?

The fault cuts straight through Ventura's picturesque downtown and runs straight into the Pacific Ocean, one of the few fault lines in California that could produce the type of mega-earthquake capable of devastating the entire state.

Does San Andreas have fault lines?

San Andreas does not address the copious fault lines throughout the Pacific Northwest, but that's probably because the movie's primary focus is, well, San Andreas. The movie does depict waters drastically receding before tsunami waves batter the Golden Gate Bridge, which is an accurate representation if, in the unlikely chance, ...

Is a tsunami possible?

Yes, it is possible. But the tsunami is not from direct displacement of ocean water by the fault, but rather because a large landslide displaces water under the ocean. David McNew/Getty Images News/Getty Images.

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