UW seismologists: Earthquake movie complete fantasy

Kayla Webley
2004-04-30
The Daily

The upcoming made-for-TV movie 10.5 has already been met with criticism from seismology experts of the department of Earth and space sciences and the geophysics program at the UW.

NBC-TV presents a four-hour miniseries about a series of West Coast earthquakes known together as the "big one" Sunday and Monday at 9 p.m. Seismologists and federal earthquake scientists say the series could damage public awareness about earthquakes and earthquake preparedness.

"Everything is wrong. It is a wild fantasy movie driven by what special effects they wanted to evoke," said William Steele, director of information services for the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network. "It starts with a surreal attack of nature ... it goes downhill from there. Every landmark is destroyed. Then they use bizarre science fantasy to explain why it is all happening."

According to J. Michael Brown, chair of the Earth and Space Sciences department, the miniseries presents many fallacies about earthquakes and earthquake prevention. The miniseries includes the toppling of the Space Needle, which is virtually impossible, according to Brown, because of its steel structure.

In the miniseries nuclear weapons are used to stop the quakes, which Brown said would not work.

"Using nuclear weapons is just a laugh," he said. Nuclear weapons "are used to trigger earthquakes, not stop them."

According to Thomas Yelin, geophysicist for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the depth of the earthquake in the series -- 700 kilometers -- is also improbable.

"There are very few places where a quake of that depth is possible, and Western Washington is not one of them," he said.

The miniseries also features a fictional UW seismology lab and UW seismologist.

"It is nice that they feature UW and recognize our lab," said Brown. "We are not portrayed accurately ... they play up tensions between the USGS and the UW."

Steele said the miniseries makes it look as though the UW is not affiliated with the USGS and that the two keep secrets from one another.

"That is not a reflection of reality," said Yelin. "The USGS and the UW work closely together."

According to Steele, the miniseries should not be viewed as a representation of an actual earthquake.

"[The miniseries] is a giant step backward in public awareness," he said. "Hopefully, people will take it for some laughs and as having no connection with reality."