The movie revolves around Ray Gaines (Dwayne Johnson), a rescue pilot who works for the Los Angeles Fire Department. After a massive earthquake strikes California, Ray's wife, Elara (Carla Gugino), and their two children, Charlie (Chloë Cole), and Lily (Alexandra Daddario), get separated during the chaos. As Ray searches for his family, he teams up with a geologist, Dr. Emma Taylor (Paul Giamatti), to navigate through the devastated landscape and find his loved ones.