10.5 Quake

I was watching a movie, "10.5" about the earthquake along the west coast tonight (Sunday). There was an Amtrak train, actually shown in model train, on the track in nearby Redding. The fault opened up along the track, eventually swallowing up the Amtrak train in deep crack.

Anyone watching it?

Yup, I saw that too.

I question whether or not that could actually happen--a train being swallowed up. I know bridges and trackways can be damaged, washed away, trains can derail from such accidents, off course trains can derail and drop into a body of water and become submerged (as what happened in 1993 with the Sunset LImited in Alabama). But, I still question whether or not an entire train would disappear like that.In New Zealand, in the 1950s, an entire train was wrecked due to lava flows from a volcanic eruption, the track was "washed" away. There were more than 150 deaths on the train, but the train locomotives and cars were still quite visible. I also question some other aspects of the "10.5" movie preditions. The Space Needle has very few buildings surrounding it--the closest one being the Center House. The rest of the area directly surrounding the Needle is: amusement rides, open fields, maybe the Empower Music Project Building. But there are no real city streets or blocks (as depicted in the film) that would be where the Needle (within the 600 feet or so of the height of the structure) would land if it were toppled over. I also wonder if that's the way it would topple over. Wouldn't the steel supports simply buckle and the Needle fall in on itself? Also, the Needle was built to withstand an earthquakle of over 8.0 on the richter scale. The one in the movie was only 7. something.

I have often wondered what would happen in a major earthquake to the Needle and the Golden Gate Bridge. Most experts say that the bridges would hold up just fine in an earthquake; the approaches would be damaged and make San Francisco isolated from the either Marin County or Oakland--making it difficult to get supplies and equipment to the strickened city. I have no doubt earthquakes can and do occur in Seattle--as well as in Portland. San Francisco and most of Central and Southern California already have a reputaiton for earthquakes. of course, the movie neglected to mention Oregon--what would happen to Oregon in such an earthquake. Oregon is right in the middle; we've experience a few earthquakes in recent times (major ones it the distant past). And we do have dormant volcanoes in our backyard also.

Parts of this movie are a bit too much of a rip-off from the first "Superman" movie--when Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) was trying to hit California with a nuclear warhead to send it into the ocean and obtain the what was left).

All I can say is that it was a TV movie, designed to freak people out and get ratings points. Does it make one think? Yes. But I personally wouldn't take all of that stuff seriously.

Didn't even bother watching it...not even for the train.

battalion51 said:

All I can say is that it was a TV movie, designed to freak people out and get ratings points. Does it make one think? Yes. But I personally wouldn't take all of that stuff seriously.

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Plus, a lot of scientists are really angry about all of the false facts that are portrayed in the movie. It's all just about ratings.

True, it might be just a movie, but I like to know where those people got the ideas (or why) of how they think those things will happen, why those particular structures (and not show others). Also, all the buildings shown toppling over in the movie all pretty much fell over the same way (leaning over). I doubt that in an actual quake the buildings and structures would all fall over the same way--it didn't in 1906, or the Alaskan Quake of 1964, or the quake of 1989 (?). It depends on where the earthquake is centered, how it moves, the land on which the structure stands, the make-up of the structure itself. Perhaps the movie's special effects department needs to vary--brush up on--their techniques. It's interesting, too, that at the end of the movie, Los Angeles (including Hollywood) is an island unto itself. Maybe there is a hidden message in that!

I agree with you, Steve, about the earthquake. I've been in earthquakes, minor and major, many times- Whittier, Upland, Big Bear, Lander, Northridge, etc. If you're on top of epicenter, it'll be a hell because it moves up and down in a jerk motion. If you're away from epicenter, you'll be on rolling like boat on water.

Earthquake! Nope, false alarm, it's the wind shaking my single wide mobile home. :lol: