When Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson returned to our screens for San Andreas, it was more a case of how the film's creators would get the science wrong, rather than if. It's very difficult to find a modern CGI-heavy disaster movie that isn't littered with scientific errors and San Andreas is no different. Lets begin by saying that earthquakes cant be predicted at all. Fact. Despite hundreds of years of research, we really have little to no idea of when and where they're going to occur. The idea that there could suddenly be a method of predicting them is very difficult for seismologists to get on board with. It's just as simple fact that nothing tells us when to expect a quake, least of all magnetic pulses, whatever they are. Magnetism and plate tectonics are barely related at all. Obviously the Earth has a magnetic field but there's really not much of a link between that and the movement of the crust. Of course, when the magnetically predicted earthquake strikes with enormous force (impossibly strong, in fact), the special effects team really go to town and add all sorts of weird and wonderful shots, many of which were completely inaccurate. One shot that turned heads in the trailer campaign before the films release was a clip of a shockwave rippling through the cityscape, causing buildings and streets to bob up and down. While such an effect does indeed occur during earthquakes, it is negligible to the naked eye. Even a quake of such ludicrous force as described in the movie would not produce such a visible shockwave. Similarly, the enormous crevasse that appears in the road, nearly swallowing up The Rock, is implausibly wide and deep. The last straw though is the tsunami. First and foremost, tsunamis do not tend to occur as a result of earthquakes with an epicentre on land. The quake must occur within the ocean for such an effect to take place. But further to that, even if the movies earthquake had happened out in the ocean, the tsunamis depiction is totally inaccurate. Contrary to many fictional depictions, a tsunami is less of an enormous wave and more of an unprecedented steady influx of water, as though the tide begins to come in and then never stops. But would you honestly rather watch a more accurate movie where a few skyscrapers collapse and then everyone just starts rebuilding a few days later? Didnt think so.
Peter Austin initially joined WhatCulture as an occasional contributor to our Film, Gaming and Science sections, but made the mistake of telling us that he'd been making videos in his bedroom for over a decade. Since then he's been a vital member of our YouTube team and routinely sets the standard for smart-casual wear in the office.
