Seismologist Charlie Richter, grandson of the inventor of the Richter scale, arrives in Los Angeles to begin work at the newly created Center for Earthquake Studies, a shadowy new agency that
seems more interested in the entertainment potential of large quakes, than hard science. Charlie moves into an apartment next to Grace, a young script-reader working for a tyrannical
Hollywood producer. Meanwhile, her boyfriend Ian is a deadbeat stoner "writer" who spends his time rubbing elbows at the Formosa and pitching the only script he has--a major earthquake
disaster film.
When Charlie predicts that the "Big One" is going to hit LA, and shares it with his colleagues at the Center, he is in for a big shock: the Center’s main priority is to determine how they can
leverage a major earthquake into Hollywood gold.
Suddenly everyone is looking to produce the next disaster blockbuster, Ian’s script, Ear to the Ground, is plucked from obscurity by Grace’s boss and given the fast track, complete with
demanding stars, an irrational European director, and the now hot commodity of Ian, who grows as insufferable as he is amateurish. Ian’s total lack of understanding of anything to do with
earthquake science becomes increasingly apparent to the film’s producers and crew, and not even Charlie can explain it to him.
As Grace and Charlie grow closer, Charlie decides that he must save the city and pinpoints an exact location where he can set off explosives that will cause a "retroshock," effectively
nullifying the LA earthquake. He just needs some explosives, a helicopter, and time -- not unlike the film star hero of Ear to the Ground.
