The Great Los Angeles Earthquake (1990) on Netflix
TV-PG19903hActionDramaThriller
Tremors shake Los Angeles, and seismologist Dr. Clare Winslow concludes a massive earthquake may be imminent. Officials fear panic, and a developer facing losses tries to have her fired.
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- Netflix3.0/5
- IMDb6.0/10770 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
Dr. Clare Winslow, a seismologist with the United States Geological Survey in Los Angeles, has been tracking a series of tremors around the city. The pattern convinces her that a massive earthquake is coming along the San Andreas Fault. Against her will she sits for an interview with a television reporter, who airs it re-cut to shock instead of inform; the resulting firestorm strains her marriage to Steve. Steve works closely with the developer Wendell Cates, whose money and reputation would suffer from public fear of the earthquake. Cates threatens Clare and tries to have her fired. City and state officials, among them Chad Spaulding of the Office of Emergency Management, fear panic and political fallout. Clare's teenage daughter Heather is another source of tension at home.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Great Los Angeles Earthquake (1990)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Executive producer Frank von Zerneck quoted NBC studio executives as dismissing the idea, saying their network covered 50 states and that most of the country would think California deserved to fall off into the Pacific and its people were crazy anyway.
- The film's theme came from the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, according to an interview in The Los Angeles Times, built on the idea of someone raising an alarm with no action taken.
- Actress Joanna Kerns said the film's technical advisers scared her so thoroughly that she bolted her house to its foundation, bolted her furniture to the walls and kept earthquake kits in her cars, dressing rooms and homes.
- Action scenes were filmed on "New York Street" at the Universal Studios lot, the same location used in Earthquake.
