Plot
An earthquake strikes the city of Los Angeles. Mike Roark (Tommy Lee Jones), head of the city's Office of Emergency Management, insists on coming to work to help out with the crisis, even though he has taken vacation with his daughter Kelly (Gaby Hoffmann). His associate Emmit Reese (Don Cheadle) notes the quake caused no major damage in the city, but seven utility workers are later burned to death in a storm drain at MacArthur Park. Despite the city's Department of Public Works insistence that the incident had nothing to do with the tremor and was just an accident, Roark tries to halt the subway lines which run parallel to where the mishap took place as a precaution. Metro Chairman Stan Olber (John Carroll Lynch) though refuses, feeling there is no threat to the trains. Against regulations, Roark and a colleague Gator Harris (Michael Rispoli) venture down the storm sewer in the park to investigate. They are nearly burned to death when hot gases suddenly flood the tunnel. Geologist Dr. Amy Barnes (Anne Heche) believes a volcano may be forming near the city with magma flowing underground, but cannot come up with enough evidence for Roark to take action.
Early in the morning, Dr. Barnes and her assistant Rachel (Laurie Lathem) go back to MacArthur Park to investigate the scene of the accident. After descending into the storm sewer they discover a crack in the ground which released the gasses earlier. While they are taking soil samples, a massive earthquake strikes and Rachel is killed when she falls into the crack. Near the La Brea Tar Pits, smoke rises out along with lava bombs. Steam explodes from the sewer system sending steel grates flying into the air, while a subway train filled with passengers derails underground. Roark and his daughter witness the calamity while driving through the city streets.
Minutes later, a newly formed volcano erupts from the tar pits and lava begins to flow freely through the city's boulevards. Roark and his daughter become separated as she is injured and taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in the care of Dr. Jaye Calder (Jacqueline Kim). Roark and Dr. Barnes devise a plan to organize the stacking of concrete barriers at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue to create a cul-de-sac to pool the lava. The authorities then dump massive amounts of water from helicopters on it to form a crust. The operation is successful, but Dr. Barnes later theorizes that the magma is still flowing underground in one of the subway tunnels, heading north. She calculates that the main eruption will occur at the Beverly Center which is right where Cedars-Sinai is located. Meanwhile, Olber leads a team through an underground tunnel to the derailed train to look for survivors. They save everyone, but Olber notices the conductor is still missing and goes back to find him. He finds the conductor alive but unconscious just as the lava reaches the train and begins flowing underneath it. Olber is killed due to the lava flow after saving the conductor.
Through Roark's direction, explosives are used to create channels in the street to divert the flow of lava into Ballona Creek, which will later flow into the Pacific Ocean. But Dr. Barnes deduces through a geological map that the street is sloping in the opposite direction. Therefore, Roark engineers another plan to demolish a 22-story condominium under construction by Jaye's husband to block the lava's path from entering the city. When Gator refuses to abandon an LAPD SWAT cop who has gotten trapped under wreckage while slotting explosive charges, he sacrifices their lives to detonate the final explosive charge. The plan to divert the lava is a success and the lava flows safely to the ocean.
The film's epilogue displays a graphic stating that the volcano named Mount Wilshire is still in an active state.
Read more about this topic: Volcano (1997 film)
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