Magnitude

Cora and Oliver both live in San Francisco in 1906. Their families were friends, but after Cora's father lost the family gold mine and he went to Los Angeles for work, the two were forbidden to speak. Cora owes money to bullies Vincent and Tony, of the Union Street Gang, and when she is going to meet them in the early morning hours, she sees them bullying a young Chinese girl, Chi, and trying to take her bicycle. Cora intervenes, and the girl gets away, but an earthquake hits. Both girls are trapped underground, but work to escape. When they finally free themselves and see the devastation, they both want to find their families. Cora has stolen some gold coins while trapped. Cora runs into Oliver, whose father is a fireman, and the two defy the authorities and head back to her house to find her my other and brothers. They aren't there, but Cora picks up some possessions. Vincent is looting, and tries to extract payment from Cora; he shows up and again and again, as does Mr. Hinkle, who seems helpful but who hides a secret. General Funston is trying to help the fire by blowing up buildings, which seems like a bad idea. Oliver and Cora occasionally listen to the authorities and evacuate to Union Square and the Praesidio, but always seem to go back to get into more trouble. Cora also comes across Chi several times, and eventually helps her get to her family on a boat. She also finds her mother, but goes off and loses her again. In the end, it turns out the gold she is worried about really belongs to her grandfather and will help the family after the father miraculously returns and finds everyone.