It’s hard to believe, but the heavenly life on the gentle beaches of California can end at any moment: the “golden” state is located in a seismically dangerous area, which means that in the event of a powerful enough earthquake, the entire territory of California will sink to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. This factor is used by a criminal group that threatens to detonate a nuclear device and thereby disrupt the fragile seismic balance. Blackmailers keep the population in fear, and the authorities are powerless to do anything. But the criminals make a fatal mistake by kidnapping Detective Ryder's wife.