Continuity mistake: At the Department of Geological Science building, the shot then cuts to a woman saying "I can't". The next is a room full of cameras and a couple of guys standing by the cameras near the doorway, yet in the following shot all the guys have disappeared who were standing by the cameras. (00:06:15)
Continuity mistake: Just before the big earthquake, the subway train shown arriving at the Westlake/MacArthur Park station has the number 518 on the front door, however, the train that gets damaged during the earthquake has the number 526 on it. (00:24:30 - 00:33:10)
Continuity mistake: When Roark is at MacArthur Park talking with the guy from the Department of Water & Power, Roark looks at the hole where they guy came up burnt, and to the right of the hole, there is no red cone, yet in the following shot, a cone suddenly appears. (00:09:45)
Continuity mistake: When the lava first comes out of the Tar Pits near the beginning, two cars drive past it. In the next shot a bit further away, one of the cars on the left is now a 4x4, which was not in the previous shot. (00:38:40)
Visible crew/equipment: When the train pulls into the station there is a shot of the train and there is a very clear reflection of a cameraman. This is not when they are filming a documentary about trains using the red line. (00:24:35)
Continuity mistake: At the start, when Tommy Lee Jones puts the pan on the table, the distance between the milk and the bowl changes from being right next to each other to further apart. Also, the rug is not in line with the edge of the kitchen table, yet when the dog goes to lick up the egg, it is. (00:03:15)
Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the film, Mike pulls off a frying pan of eggs from the stove, if you look at the eggs, there are virtually none in the centre of the pan, but in the next shot when he goes to put the pan down before it drops, the centre of the pan is now full of egg. (00:03:20)
Continuity mistake: At the beginning, when Stan and his other colleagues are standing in front of a TV and laptop outside, in one shot Stan's hands are on the laptop and in the following shot they are by his side. (00:05:45)
Continuity mistake: When Roark is running to save his daughter, the camera cuts to his point of view and Kelly is shielding the boy with her back towards Roark, yet in the following shot when Roark goes to grab her she is now standing at a side. (01:28:15)
Continuity mistake: When Roark is trying to get a radio, and Emmitt is watching on the big screen in the OEM building, there is a black man behind him who is talking to the guy with the headset on. In one shot the black guy is almost back to back with Emmitt and looks over his shoulder to look at the screen, yet when it cuts, the black guy is talking to the other guy but is not back to back with Emmitt. (00:43:25)
Continuity mistake: Before they build the lava dam, when Mike flips over a map on the hood of a truck to draw on it the map is clear of ash. In the next shot from across the hood the map is covered with ash. The next close up it is ash free again. (01:02:25)
Continuity mistake: At the end it starts to rain and everyone is covered in ash, soot, dust etc. However, after only a few seconds of rain, all the ash, dust and soot have vanished off Roark, Kelly and Amy instantly. (01:32:05)
Revealing mistake: When the fire truck gets hit by a lava ball and flips over, you can see two smoke plumes coming out the bottom of the truck. These are the remains of the two cannons used to flip the truck over. (00:34:55)
Factual error: The volcanic ash that can be seen throughout the film is too big to be real. The ash shown is something like 1-2 cm in diameter. Volcanic ash is not that big in real life; it is not more than 2 millimetres in diameter. (01:02:30)
Suggested correction: There are different types of products from volcanic eruptions: Ash, lapilli, and bombs. Ash is what everybody knows as. Lapilli is about the size of pebbles. Bombs, as shown in the movie, are large rocks on fire that can explode as they did in the movie.
Suggested correction: This in the middle of a city, where various things were catching fire, so that ash might not be exclusively from the volcano, but from burning buildings and objects nearby.
Continuity mistake: When Roark has been seen looking for a radio, there is a bloke behind Emmit who has a headset on. The camera does an instant cut to the front and the headset has gone. (00:43:40)
Continuity mistake: Just after Amy gets out of the drain, her fire suit is off her one shoulder and halfway between her shoulder and elbow. The camera cuts and it is back on her shoulder up to her neck instantly. (00:32:10)
Continuity mistake: Roark's car has the windscreen smashed and cracked by the volcanic ash. In some shots, mainly a distant shot of it being driven, there are no cracks in the windscreen. (00:32:35)
Continuity mistake: The severity of Kelly's wound to the face constantly changes. Some shots it's extremely red and raw, others it's only slightly red. (01:22:00 - 01:22:30)
Continuity mistake: When Amy Barnes is leaning against the 4x4/humvee, she realises it is snowing so she puts her hand up. In the previous shot she touches her face with gloves on, and in the following shot the gloves are no longer on her hands. (00:35:50)
