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The money shot in "San Andreas."
US Geological Survey (and Los Angeles City Hall-anointed) seismologist Lucy Jones attended tonight's Hollywood premiere of the latest LA disaster action flick, "San Andreas," and had her first red carpet photo taken with star Dwayne Johnson. 
OK, going in, if you have seen any of the trailers for "San Andreas," you know this is one of the faker movie disasters to ever hit Los Angeles. It may as well be "Volcano." It's actually a full California event in the movie, and the earthquake expert in the film, played by Paul Giamatti, says the quake that destroys Los Angeles and San Francisco will be felt all the way on the East Coast. The movie has the San Andreas Fault, which in reality slides, somehow opening in a huge chasm and generating the world's biggest tsunami. None of that can happen in California, but we do have earthquakes, and the threat of a Really Big One always looms, so Jones played along.
She tweeted through the screening when she observed a real lesson to be taken away, and also when a few of the scientifically impossible scenarios happened. They are all at her Twitter feed. Here's a selected sampling, in chronological order.
First big howler. San Andreas the movie pretends that California has a subduction zone. We can only have a M8.2
— Dr. Lucy Jones (@DrLucyJones) May 27, 2015First big safety message- if the shaking is bad enough to damage a dam you won't be able to run
— Dr. Lucy Jones (@DrLucyJones) May 27, 2015Yes! Drop, cover& hold on. The right thing to do in an earthquake
— Dr. Lucy Jones (@DrLucyJones) May 27, 2015I like that the aftershocks keep on hitting and cause more damage. That's the reality of Big EQs
— Dr. Lucy Jones (@DrLucyJones) May 27, 2015OMG! A chasm? If the fault could open up, there'd be no friction. With no friction, there'd be no earthquake
— Dr. Lucy Jones (@DrLucyJones) May 27, 2015Competence makes the girl sexy! That's a new message i can applaud!
— Dr. Lucy Jones (@DrLucyJones) May 27, 2015Bottom line: don't learn seismology from #SanAndreas but maybe it will inspire people to take Community Emergency Response Training
— Dr. Lucy Jones (@DrLucyJones) May 27, 2015The opening Jones attended was at Grauman's Chinese in Hollywood — earthquake country. Alas, the movie also premiered tonight at London's Leicester Square. Could be fewer tourists over here this summer.
Just for fun here's the trailer:
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