USS Gridley (DLG-21) the "Spruance"-class destroyer to escort reflagged Kuwaiti oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz during Operation Earnest Will. While homeward bound, transiting the South China Sea, "Gridley" rescued Vietnamese refugees sighted in a small boat off of the coast of Vietnam. A Vietnamese-speaking crewman aboard "Gridley" was able to translate for those rescued, facilitating the process. "Gridley" returned to San Diego in June 1989. On 17 October of that year, the ship's visit to Naval Station, Treasure Island, California, was interrupted by the 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay area. "Gridley"s crew provided assistance to victims
The Great Los Angeles Earthquake of the movie centres on the political and social fallout following the earthquake, and Winslow's attempts to reunite with her family (from whom she had become separated). 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