The Big One - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Big One is a term often used in casual conversation by residents of California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, Washington and British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

to describe the megathrust earthquake

Megathrust earthquake

Megathrust earthquakes occur at subduction zones at destructive plate boundaries , where one tectonic plate is forced under another. Due to the shallow dip of the plate boundary, which causes large sections to get stuck, these earthquakes are among the world's largest, with moment magnitudes ...

or other natural disaster anticipated as inevitably striking the West Coast of the United States

West Coast of the United States

West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...

. The name has also been applied to a megathrust earthquake

Megathrust earthquake

expected to happen in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, Kanto area, Japan with the epicenter in Sagami Bay

Sagami Bay

Sagami Bay , also known as the Sagami Gulf or Sagami Sea, lies south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshū, central Japan, contained within the scope of the Miura Peninsula, in Kanagawa, to the east, the Izu Peninsula, in Shizuoka Prefecture, to the west, and the Shōnan coastline to the north, while the...

where the Filipino Plate and North American Plate movements cause big earthquakes regularly, with an interval of approximately 70 years. See also 1923 Great Kantō earthquake

1923 Great Kanto earthquake

The struck the Kantō plain on the Japanese main island of Honshū at 11:58:44 am JST on September 1, 1923. Varied accounts hold that the duration of the earthquake was between 4 and 10 minutes...

.

The Big One, or Big One may also refer to:

In fiction

The Big One (film)
The Big One (film)
The Big One is a movie filmed in 1996—and released in 1998 by Miramax Films—by Michael Moore during his promotion tour around the United States for his book Downsize This!...

, a film by Michael Moore
The Big One (TV series)
The Big One (TV series)
The Big One is a 1992 British comedy-drama television series starring Sandi Toksvig as Deddie Tolbert and Mike McShane as James Howard.Seven episodes were broadcast on Channel 4 from 5 March to 16 April 1992. The series was written by Elly Brewer and Toksvig, and directed by John Henderson. Guest...

, an early-1990s comedy series starring Sandi Toksvig and Mike McShane
"The Big One" (Gilmore Girls), a third-season episode of the television series Gilmore Girls
"The Big One" (Dexter)
The Big One (Dexter)
"The Big One" is the fifth season finale of the American television drama series Dexter, and the 60th overall episode of the show. It originally aired on Showtime on December 12, 2010. In the episode, Dexter attempts to save Lumen from Jordan Chase, as his sister, Debra, comes closer to uncovering...

, a season 5 finale of the television series Dexter
The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake
The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake
The Great Los Angeles Earthquake is a 1990 television film about a massive earthquake that strikes Los Angeles, California. The movie stars Joanna Kerns in the movie's lead role, seismologist Clare Winslow, who tries to warn city leaders of the possibility that a powerful earthquake may strike...

, a 1990 made-for-television movie starring Joanna Kerns, depicting a massive earthquake that destroys Los Angeles, California.
Sōkichi Bamba/Big One, a fictional character in J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai
The fake heart attack that Redd Foxx
Redd Foxx
John Elroy Sanford , better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American comedian and actor, best known for his starring role on the sitcom Sanford and Son.-Early life:...

would regularly have on Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son is an American sitcom, based on the BBC's Steptoe and Son, that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977....

, telling his deceased wife Elizabeth that he was soon to rejoin her (used as a means of coercing others, mainly his son Lamont, to do his bidding)
The Big One, a rocket used in the animated film Toy Story
Toy Story
Toy Story is a 1995 American computer-animated film released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is Pixar's first feature film as well as the first ever feature film to be made entirely with CGI. The film was directed by John Lasseter and featuring the voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen...

In music

"The Big One", a 1988 single by Black
Black
Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...

.
The Big One (Daddy Freddy album)
The Big One (Daddy Freddy album)
-Track listing:#"Love Sick" – 5:18#"Keep Talkin'" – 4:39#"Pain Killa" – 5:07#"Rude Boy" – 5:19#"Thru The Dancehall" – 5:01#"The Girl Is Fine" – 5:10#"Spanish Lingua" – 5:07#"Mikey" – 0:10#"Boo Yaka" – 5:50#"How We Do It" – 4:20#"The Big One" – 5:15...

, a 1994 album by ragga vocalist Daddy Freddy
"The Big One", a song by Nellie McKay from her album Pretty Little Head
Pretty Little Head
Pretty Little Head is the second album by singer Nellie McKay. It was released October 31, 2006, on Nellie's own Hungry Mouse label. Initial reports indicated that the album would be released on the Internet in January, with a possible conventional release in February; however, this did not end up...
"The Big One
The Big One (song)
"The Big One" the title of a song co-written by Gerry House and Devon O'Day and recorded by country music artist George Strait. It was released in October 1994 as the lead-off single from his 1994 album, Lead On. It became his 26th number 1 hit in the United States...

", a 1994 song by George STrait
"The Big One", a 1998 single by Confederate Railroad
Confederate Railroad
Confederate Railroad is an American country rock band founded in 1987 in Marietta, Georgia by Danny Shirley , Michael Lamb , Mark Dufresne , Chris McDaniel , Warren "Gates" Nichols and Wayne Secrest...

In pop culture:

Big One, a roller coaster in Blackpool Pleasure Beach
"The Big One", the nickname given to Red Nose Day 2007
Red Nose Day 2007
Red Nose Day 2007, was a fund raising event organized by Comic Relief, broadcast live on BBC One and BBC Two from the evening of 16 March 2007 to early the following morning. It was part of "The Big One" campaign...

, a fundraising event held in the UK organised by Comic Relief
"The Big One", a slogan used by WLW
WLW
WLW is a clear channel talk radio station located in Cincinnati, Ohio, run by Clear Channel Communications. The station broadcasts locally on 700 kHz AM...

700 AM, a radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio
The Big One (NASCAR)
The Big One (NASCAR)
The phrase The Big One refers to an accident involving roughly eight or more cars in NASCAR stock car racing.Though multi-car pileups have occurred at nearly every NASCAR track, the term is largely reserved for large Sprint Cup accidents at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway...

, used to describe a massive multi-car accident in NASCAR superspeedway competition.
The Big One (IndyCar), used to describe the massive multi-car IndyCar
IndyCar
IndyCar is the trade name of an American-based open-wheel auto racing sanctioning body. IndyCar sanctions three racing series, the premier IZOD IndyCar Series with its centerpiece Indianapolis 500, and developmental series Firestone Indy Lights and the U.S...

accident that claimed the life of Dan Wheldon
Dan Wheldon
Daniel Clive "Dan" Wheldon was a British racing driver from England. He was the 2005 Indy Racing League IndyCar Series champion, and winner of the Indianapolis 500 in both 2005 and 2011...

Other disasters:

A global flu epidemic similar to the Spanish flu
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...