context: The movie opens with title and credits shown over a mountain peak that explodes, followed by a rock fall. A narrator (Director Fred F. Sears) tells us, "Those who lived to tell the tale remember that the day began with fragile, breathtaking beauty. The temperature was cool, in the low 50s, the air mountain pure even downtown. It was a day unreal enough to serve as a setting for the birth of the world, or death of it."A man, Dr. Ellis Morton (Tristram Coffin) walks from the parking lot to the University Seismology Laboratory in Southern California. He is met inside by Laura 'Hutch' Hutchinson (Kathryn Grant). They enter the lab/office of Dr. David Conway (William Leslie); He is on the telephone. Conway has completed his Pressure Photometer, a device for measuring pressure in the earth. Just in time it would seem. The device is reporting an increase in pressure associated with the prediction of an earthquake. Some malfunction is suspected, but all components have been checked. Conway notes, "There's an earthquake brewing, Ellis, and a big one." The earthquake will be close and within twenty-four hours.Morton and Conway fly to the state capitol and meet with Governor Chaney (Raymond Greenleaf). They try to convince him to evacuate the one million people in the Los Angeles area, but are unsuccessful. He does agree to notify the disaster council to be prepared. The scientists return to Los Angeles and inform Hutch that they tried. Conway decides to go down to the basement and check the ground connections on his new device. Morton and Hutch prepare for a long night to monitor the equipment. Hutch informs Dr. Morton that she intends to get married and leave. Morton tells Hutch that Dr. Conway is interested in her romantically, but has been too busy to express his interest. Hutch is tired of waiting.That evening, the three scientists wait. Hutch and Morton nap while Conway smokes and paces the lab floor. Then the first foreshock hits, followed by the main quake. Mountains and buildings crumble. The newspaper headline declares, "Quake Stuns Southland! Thousands Dead, Damage in Billions." Fires raged around the region. What wasn't initially noticed was that the axis of the earth has shifted three degrees. Conway calls Hutch and asks that she cancel her wedding plans and return immediately to the lab. He wants her to join him on a flight to visit the governor again. The pair enter a room where Governor Chaney is meeting with city officials. Conway reports that another quake is expected with twice the intensity of the first, and quakes will happen all over the world. The next quake locally will be in three or four days. He adds that more will follow and it seems to be due to something inside the earth expanding. He reports that the ground is expanding, bulging, and the tilt is about three degrees. Conway finally advises that unless the cause and a remedy is found, the earth will be destroyed. He proposes a descent into the Carlsbad Caverns to look for the cause.Scientists around the world begin the investigation. Two rangers, Brown (Fred Coby) and Kirk (Paul Savage) escort the three scientists into a large chamber in the caves called the Big Room, the lowest level the public visits at 1300 feet below ground. A pit below is accessed by rope ladder. Their gear is ready for them below. Conway and Hutch will be taking the first shift. Conway is first to descend. When he reaches the bottom, Hutch starts her descent. Unfortunately Hutch freezes up on the ladder and must be coaxed and cajoled to finish her descent. Resting after she reaches the bottom, Hutch observes, "It's almost as if the earth were striking back at us for the way we've robber her of her natural resources." Morton calls Conway to report another quake reported in Southern California. Ranger Kirk descends to assist Hutch and Conway.Quakes are reported in Turkey and Canada. The governor's secretary (an uncredited John Phillips) escorts General Bortes (Charles Evans) and Admiral Stocker (uncredited) into the conference room and makes introductions. Working at the map on the wall is Civil Defense Chief Carson (an uncredited Lyle Latell). Kirk makes repairs on a pump and pulls a small black rock out of a pool. He draws the scientists over to examine it, noting that only limestone rocks should be present. Kirk takes the small rock, puts it in a small jar and vows to take it home and study it. Kirk climbs back out of the test area. Conway and Hutch note increased pressure on their equipment.In his cabin, Kirk starts his study of the curious rock. He removes it from the jar and pours the liquid onto a potted plant on the desk. He dries the sample, then examines it with a magnifying glass. He places the rock on the center of the desk and get up to get a reference book. The rock doubles in size, then doubles again. It starts to smoke as Kirk looks over. He sees it has increased to grapefruit size. It starts a fire on the desk. Kirk recoils in horror as the cabin explodes. Conway and Hutch meet with the chief ranger (an uncredited Pierce Lyden) who reports that everything was reduced to dust. The ranger thinks it is strange that Kirk would keep nitroglycerin or TNT in his cabin, but Conway points out that the explosion was much more powerful than either nitro or TNT could produce.The next morning Conway and Morton report to Hutch they've discovered the source. It is very close to their underground lab. Morton suspects an oil dome. Morton goes topside as Hutch admits she couldn't sleep. She was thinking of the death of Kirk. Conway pulls another rock from the pool and concludes that it must be from an intrusion from below. He also notices how heavy it is for its size. He tries to squeeze it with pliers, but it is hard and the pliers leave no mark. He puts the rock down. The marble-sized rock begins to smolder. When the scientists finally notice, the rock has grown to the size of an orange and it is burning. It burns through a plank of wood and falls into the pool of water below. The water boils and steams, but now Conway knows the cause of Ranger Kirk's demise. Morton goes back down. Conway dubs his discovery Element 112. Conway concludes that the element must be common underground, and now for some reason it is expanding and coming to the surface.Conway flies to Washington, D.C. and meets with Daniel J. Winters, Assistant Secretary of Defense (an uncredited John Zaremba). Conway wants Winters to help in removing red tape to assemble the top scientists from around the world for a meeting. Winters gives Conway access to the Smokeridge Proving Grounds for his meeting. Conway opens a box to demonstrate the element. He hands the rock to noted mineralogist, Professor Hagstrom (an uncredited Otto Waldis). Hagstrom observes that it is warm and getting hotter. One of the scientists present (an uncredited Robert Kino) declares, "It grows!" Conway explains that as it grows in size it increases in temperature. He adds that element 112 adds to its mass by combining with the nitrogen in the air. It forms an explosive nitrogen compound. It gets to the temperature of melting steel two stages before the explosion, so it melts through the table and falls into a tub of water below. Conway pulls the marble sized rock out of the water with tongs and explains that hydrogen in the water reverses the process. Conway wants to emphasize the danger the earth faces. Outside, he hangs a globe on a tree and places a small piece of the element inside. It explodes with sufficient force to practically knock the scientists down a safe distance away. Dr. Morton calls Conway in the field to inform him there has been a cave-in and that Hutch is trapped in the underground lab.A crew of miners descend to dig out the cave-in. She is safe below and continues to provide readouts from the machine. The pressure measured is increasing. The chief rescue worker (Terry Frost) reports it may take until morning to break through. The crew manages to break into the underground lab, but it causes a minor rock fall. Hutch is injured and must be removed with a sling. Time is of the essence as another quake is expected any time. The scientists and rescue workers escape just as the earthquake starts.At the Carlsbad Hospital, Hutch is recovering. Conway goes to visit and is told by the doctor (an uncredited Natividad Vacio) that Hutch has recovered and will be discharged. Conway gives her a gift--a bottle of her favorite perfume. He tries to express his feelings of love, but can't quite find the words or courage to do so. He tells Hutch they will be using a supercomputer called the Datatron to calculate how long until the earth explodes. The answer is slightly over 28 days. Conway is surprised it will be so soon. He proposes all areas where the element is exposed be flooded with water. Cloud seeding is used to generate rain.In a busy room, Conway coordinates world-wide information on progress. Morton arrives with his wife and two children. Hutch tells Conway she loves him. Reports from around the world indicate things are improving using the flooding strategy. Unfortunately a place in Nevada has developed a volcano from Element 112 pushing to the surface. Sheriff Quinn (Frank Scannell) from Las Serinas, Nevada reports a growing volcano, visible from his window. Personnel at the nearby Horseshoe Dam is reporting dangerous levels of sulfur gases. Most of the staff are dead or dying. Conway proposes to destroy the dam and flood the area. He wants all the Element 112 samples sent to him at the dam. Hutch takes the samples. They are loaded onto the helicopter and Sheriff Quinn, Conway and Hutch fly to the dam. They carry the box down to the generator section of the dam. Conway brought several bottles of nitric acid to help increase the nitrogen available for the explosion. Quinn and Conway place the samples in a wooden box. A dying Dam worker exits his office and knocks over the bottles of nitric acid endangering Quinn and Conway working one floor below. They manage to avoid the acid on the stairs, return to the helicopter and escape the area before Element 112 explodes taking the dam down. The water floods the region stopping the volcano (employing a great deal of stock footage).We close with Conway and Hutch on a hill top at dusk. They embrace and kiss. Hutch tells Conway as a romantic joke, "Maybe I spoke too soon. The earth just started trembling again."
question: In the movie, the team traces the epicenter of the pending disaster to an area beneath where?
answer: nevada