It is before daybreak in San Francisco on April 18, 1906. Jacob Kaufman slips out of the wooden boarding house where he lives with his immigrant father and little sister Rosie, and suddenly the ground beneath his feet begins to rumble.
Buildings collapse, and the street splits wide open as Jacob runs to find safety from a devastating earthquake. Fires engulf the city. He returns home hoping to find his father and sister, but there is nothing left...