In “San Andreas” Dwayne Johnson has to deal with a massive catastrophe that almost completely destroys San Francisco. A spectacle. But: Would such a destruction be theoretically possible?
An earthquake causes the Hoover Dam to rupture. It causes the San Andreas Fault to drift apart and California to be rocked by an unprecedented earthquake. Much of San Francisco is destroyed. Then comes a second earthquake, measuring 9.6 on the Richter scale, the strongest ever. The San Andreas Fault breaks into a mighty gorge. This causes a megatsunami that simply shreds the Golden Gate Bridge into pieces and turns the US city into an island.
Seismologist subjects “San Andreas” to a fact check
Warner Bros. Entertainment
How likely is the level of destruction that “San Andreas” shows?
The seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones opened up about the ‘San Andreas’ movie and fact-checked (via Historyvshollywood.com). And at least in parts it confirms the rough scenario of the film. When asked if an earthquake in Nevada could lead to triggering an even stronger earthquake in San Francisco, she answered in the affirmative. The trigger pattern, as shown in the film, is absolutely plausible. The real San Andreas Fault can cause an earthquake to set off a chain reaction of other earthquakes around Nevada and California.
In fact, this has happened several times. In 1992, a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck the southern California area, causing a 5.7 magnitude quake in Nevada. When a violent 7.8 magnitude tremor devastated the city in 1906, it led to further 6 magnitude earthquakes in Oregon and Nevada. According to Jones, the various aftershocks that are addressed and discussed in the film are also a realistic consequence to an event of the magnitude represented by “San Andreas”.
Where Hollywood Exaggerates: Megatsunami and Sudden Canyon
Warner Bros. Entertainment
San Francisco underwater? Since “San Andreas” exaggerates immeasurably.
But although dr. While Lucy Jones credits the film with using real-life threats to San Francisco and the surrounding area as a basis, she also says that the scale of what “San Andreas” shows pure Hollywood cinema is. In particular, she identifies the tsunami at the end of the film as a fake. The height of the wave is so exaggerated and unrealistic that she comments as follows: “Tsunamis are waves. They can’t be bigger than the ocean is deep.” Especially since such a tsunami should not occur. Tsunamis caused by earthquakes occur at subduction zones, where tectonic plates collide and one plate is pushed under another. This deformation of the seabed triggers the wave. But there hasn’t been a subduction zone beneath San Francisco and Los Angeles for millions of years.
Jones also gives negative testimony to much of the rest of the film: she sees the sudden opening of the San Andreas Fault as “in the realm of the completely impossible”. She also considers the extent of the destruction to be exaggerated: Modern buildings are often designed in such a way that they are much more robust and can withstand a lot longer even in the event of such an earthquake than the film shows. She also criticizes that the film features a seismologist (played by Paul Giamatti) who correctly predicts the impending catastrophe. There is so far no way to predict the timing of an earthquake. The only time this is possible is immediately after an earthquake has already occurred.
Dwayne Johnson embarrasses himself with statement about ‘San Andreas’
The earthquake in “San Andreas” has a magnitude of 9.6. In fact, that would make it the largest earthquake ever recorded in the real world. But the Chilean earthquake, which shook Chile on May 22, 1960, is close. At that time, a strength of 9.5 was measured. As is so often the case, it can be said: Hollywood has exaggerated a real threat scenario (mutually triggering earthquakes near the San Andreas Fault)., to turn it into humorous popcorn cinema. Only one sees things differently: Lead actor Dwayne Johnson.
On the US talk show “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon”, Dwayne Johnson said during a promotional appearance for “San Andreas”: “We had the world’s best seismologists and seismic researchers watch over the script and challenged ourselves with the script so that they ended up saying, ‘Anything you do in the movie could actually happen.'” The statement became an embarrassment for Johnsonbecause one of those experts advising the film was USC professor Tomas Jordan — and who commented on Johnson’s talk show statement, saying the filmmakers completely ignored much of his advice.
