{"id":204271,"date":"2025-04-25T07:06:49","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T07:06:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/american-history\/april-25-2025-earthquakestudying-movies\/"},"modified":"2025-04-25T07:06:49","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T07:06:49","slug":"april-25-2025-earthquakestudying-movies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=204271","title":{"rendered":"April 25, 2025: EarthquakeStudying: Movies"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

[125 years
\nago<\/a> this coming weekend, the first name
\nin earthquakes<\/a>, Charles Richter, was born. So in his honor I\u2019ll AmericanStudy a
\nhandful of seismic quakes, leading up to a special post on Richter himself!]<\/p>\n

On
\ntakeaways from three blockbuster films about catastrophic quakes.<\/span><\/p>\n

1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Earthquake<\/a><\/span><\/i> (1974): I
\nwrote in
\nthis post<\/a> about the long history of disaster films (one of the most
\nenduring genres of blockbusters, in fact), and there\u2019s never been a moment more
\nfull of such movies than the 1970s. Indeed, production on Earthquake<\/i> was
\nrushed in order to try to beat a competing
\ndisaster film<\/a>, The Towering Inferno<\/i>, into theaters, and Earthquake<\/i>
\ndid come out about a month before Inferno<\/i> so mission accomplished there.
\nBut what really makes Earthquake<\/i> stand out is its use of a
\ngroundbreaking (bad pun once again intended) theatrical technology, \u201cSensurround<\/a>,\u201d
\nin order to help audiences truly feel the titular disaster. Given that the film
\nfeatures a scene (available at the first hyperlink above) set in a movie theatre
\nduring the earthquake, I can imagine that the blurring of art and reality would
\nhave gotten real complicated for at least Southern California audiences.<\/span><\/p>\n

2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>The Great Los Angeles
\nEarthquake<\/a><\/span><\/i> (1990): In his review
\nof this film<\/a> (which he calls The Big One<\/i>, an alternate title), Washington
\nPost<\/i> critic Tom Shales explicitly connected it to the 1974 film, noting
\nthat, \u201cbad as it is, [it] does seem an improvement over the 1974 theatrical
\nrelease Earthquake<\/i>, which also fantasized the destruction of L.A.\u201d But
\nwhat interests me most about the 1990 film is that it was made-for-TV, and yet
\nclearly intended to be just as much of a blockbuster as that prior theatrical release\u2014the
\n1990 film cost more than $9 million, was made over a three-year period,
\nincluded sequences filmed at the same Universal Studios lot where Earthquake<\/i>
\nhad been filmed, and so on. There\u2019s been a lot written in recent years, quite
\nrightly, about the shift from film to TV (including in how films themselves get
\ndistributed and viewed), but this blockbuster TV movie from 1990 reminds us
\nthat that process has been a multi-decade one to be sure.<\/span><\/p>\n

3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>San Andreas<\/a><\/span><\/i> (2015): Hollywood
\nwas far from done with big-screen blockbuster disaster movies, of course, as
\nreflected by this 2015 film about a catastrophic quake that hits the San
\nFrancisco Bay Area, starring blockbuster big guy Dwayne Johnson himself (among
\nmany others in an over-stuffed cast as is typical for the genre). I don\u2019t know
\nthat there\u2019s too much more to say about this particular film, but I\u2019d note that,
\nto my knowledge, there hasn\u2019t yet been a feature film made about the 1906 San
\nFrancisco earthquake and fire, a real-life disaster that was (as I wrote in
\nMonday\u2019s post) as full of compelling stories as any imaginary one could be. I
\nknow that period pieces can be trickier, and generally are a distinct genre
\nfrom disaster films\u2014but if we\u2019re gonna keep telling these stories, we might as
\nwell engage with the real ones.<\/span><\/p>\n

Richter
\npost this weekend,<\/span><\/p>\n

Ben<\/span><\/p>\n

PS. What
\ndo you think? Famous quakes or other natural disasters you\u2019d analyze?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[125 years ago this coming weekend, the first name in earthquakes, Charles Richter, was born. So in his honor I\u2019ll AmericanStudy a handful of seismic quakes, leading up to a special post on Richter himself!] On takeaways from three blockbuster films about catastrophic quakes. 1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Earthquake (1974): I wrote in this post about the long […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12032],"tags":[4759,75808,4498],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-204271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-american-history","tag-april","tag-earthquakestudying","tag-movies"],"yoast_head":"\nApril 25, 2025: EarthquakeStudying: Movies - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=204271\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"April 25, 2025: EarthquakeStudying: Movies - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[125 years ago this coming weekend, the first name in earthquakes, Charles Richter, was born. So in his honor I\u2019ll AmericanStudy a handful of seismic quakes, leading up to a special post on Richter himself!] On takeaways from three blockbuster films about catastrophic quakes. 1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Earthquake (1974): I wrote in this post about the long […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=204271\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-25T07:06:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=204271#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=204271\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"April 25, 2025: EarthquakeStudying: Movies\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-25T07:06:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=204271\"},\"wordCount\":522,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"April\",\"EarthquakeStudying\",\"Movies\"],\"articleSection\":[\"American History\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=204271#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=204271\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=204271\",\"name\":\"April 25, 2025: EarthquakeStudying: Movies - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-25T07:06:49+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=204271#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=204271\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=204271#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"April 25, 2025: EarthquakeStudying: Movies\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"April 25, 2025: EarthquakeStudying: Movies - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=204271","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"April 25, 2025: EarthquakeStudying: Movies - Som2ny Network","og_description":"[125 years ago this coming weekend, the first name in earthquakes, Charles Richter, was born. So in his honor I\u2019ll AmericanStudy a handful of seismic quakes, leading up to a special post on Richter himself!] On takeaways from three blockbuster films about catastrophic quakes. 1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Earthquake (1974): I wrote in this post about the long […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=204271","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-04-25T07:06:49+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=204271#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=204271"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"April 25, 2025: EarthquakeStudying: Movies","datePublished":"2025-04-25T07:06:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=204271"},"wordCount":522,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["April","EarthquakeStudying","Movies"],"articleSection":["American History"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=204271#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=204271","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=204271","name":"April 25, 2025: EarthquakeStudying: Movies - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-04-25T07:06:49+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=204271#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=204271"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=204271#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"April 25, 2025: EarthquakeStudying: Movies"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=204271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204271\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=204271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=204271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=204271"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=204271"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=204271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}