Corrected entry: The helicopter appears to crash into the store in Bakersfield sideways (the rotors chop through the roof vertically), however in the interior shot, the helicopter is horizontal.
Corrected entry: When Paul Giamatti and Will Yun Lee are at Hoover Dam, as the dam falls to pieces, Lee is running to safety with the little girl in his arms. After Lee tosses the girl to Giamatti, the camera cuts down, revealing a length of pipe impaling Lee's work boot. It's physically impossible for a one-inch piece of blunt steel pipe to penetrate a leather upper, a human foot, and then a thick rubber sole by someone simply running and falling into it. It would cause a bruise at most. (00:17:45)
Correction: He didn't just fall into it. That piece of steel and the concrete it is attached to had shifted and the immense weight is what caused it to go through his foot. It was also not a blunt piece of steel, but sheared off at an angle at the end.
Corrected entry: Tsunamis are caused when the epicenter of the earthquake is located in the sea. Physically, in order for a tsunami to be formed, the seabed must move abruptly in a vertical direction. In this movie, all the earthquakes are located inland, along the San Andreas fault.
Correction: Although it is a series of earthquakes along the San Andreas Fault, these still would be able to cause a tsunami, since an earthquake measuring 9.6 on the Richter-Scale easily could cause a submarine landslide - which would definitely lead to a tsunami, as shown for example by the "Storegga Slide".
Corrected entry: Near the end of the film, Chief Ray Gaines is desperately trying to save his daughter, Blake, from rising water inside a building. The water engulfs them both at the exact same moment, and Ray watches helplessly as Blake immediately drowns without struggle in only 22 seconds. However, virtually anyone can hold his breath much longer than that, up to two minutes or more. In fact, Ray continues holding his breath for an additional 30 seconds under continuous physical exertion as he retrieves Blake's body and swims to the surface.
Correction: Many people, especially when panicked, will actually pass out during their first breath. Blake could have easily gone into shock as well. So it's not unheard of for someone to drown in under 30 seconds, although they may still be alive and can be revived. But this was not the case with Blake.
Correction: The helicopter crashes into the store at about 20-30 degrees off its vertical axis. This means that the helicopter was still in a somewhat upright position as the blades hit and it came to rest at about 5 degrees off axis.