A deep rumble in the earth, a screeching noise, and the world begins to shake, throwing people off their feet and hurling buildings to the ground. The New Madrid Fault has ruptured again, wreaking havoc over seven states. Gale Swanton, city planner for a small Missouri river town, is left in charge when the City Manager and Mayor are both killed. He struggles to help the townsfolk in the face of broken water mains and impassable roads, with little help from a FEMA overwhelmed by the vast destruction in St. Louis and Memphis. Tempers fray as food and drinking water run low. Gale and his RN husband struggle to hold together a crumbling community and protect its citizens from their own worst instincts. And there is more shaking yet to come.