The movie was aired over a two-night period on NBC during November 1990 . There had been some public interest in earthquakes following the Loma Prieta earthquake which rocked San Francisco in October 1989 , and in addition seismologists at the time were predicting a massive earthquake to strike along the New Madrid Fault line , which runs along the Mississippi River , an event which ultimately did not occur . ( A real earthquake would eventually strike Los Angeles a little over three years later . ) The original airing included a number of scenes and subplots that were removed from later airings ; one of the excised storylines included an assassination attempt on South African trade minister David Motubu ( Brock Peters ) , who is under the protection of security agent Roy Bryant ( Clarence Gilyard , Jr. ) . The earthquake thwarts the assassin 's initial attempt on Motubu 's life , although Motubu 's personal guard and Bryant 's partner are both killed . Although Laurie 's police officer boyfriend Matt ( who is Bryant 's good friend ) tries to intervene in the destroyed streets of L.A. , Roy falls victim to the assassin 's gunfire , but only before Motubu kills the assassin himself
Loma Prieta earthquake
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
The Great Los Angeles Earthquake