Seismologist debunks Hollywood's "San Andreas" scenes
LOS ANGELES -- Hollywood kicked off the summer movie season by destroying its hometown. The disaster movie "San Andreas" envisions a series of huge earthquakes that wipe out much of California.
When real earthquakes hit the state, reporters turn to seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) for all the facts. But on Monday Jones addressed all the fiction in the film, answering questions on a Reddit AMA. She also spoke with CBS News correspondent John Blackstone who had some questions of his own.
Blackstone: "Fact or fiction, most of the high rises in Los Angeles come down?"
Jones: "Fiction. A few, potentially, is fact."
Blackstone: "Fact or fiction, they will feel this in New York?"
Jones: "No. Absolute fiction."
Blackstone: "A huge tsunami hits San Francisco?"
Jones: "The tsunami was too big for anywhere. We have to have a subduction zone and we don't have one in San Francisco."
Despite the movie's flaws Jones, who made a red carpet entrance at the movie's premier, sees it not as a disaster but as an opportunity to push a message of preparedness.
"It is great to see the seismologist ordering people out of doorways and under the table," she said.