Scientists make a horrible discovery: The "Big One" is coming in two days, with it, California will sink to the ocean. Their only hope is to rupture a volcano that will displace the earthquake's energy and build a new crust on the surface. But as fore-shocks turn California into chaos, it's a race against time the scientists might not win.

Lacking a sense of life-direction, a young man falls stranded in a small desert town, unexpectedly finding friendship at the local DMV.