The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Brad Wheeler

Director Andersen’s pacing is dynamic, allowing white-knuckled viewers to catch their breaths before he takes it away again. This isn’t a sequel, it’s an after-shock – and a doozy at that.

The Playlist by Warren Cantrell

With well-staged action, good character work, and believable progressions from the previous installment, The Quake is the sequel that fans of “The Wave” deserve.

New York Magazine (Vulture) by Bilge Ebiri

John Andreas Andersen’s The Quake, a sequel to the excellent 2015 Norwegian disaster film The Wave, should be required viewing for all of today’s Hollywood franchise jockeys. It shows you how to make one of these things without sacrificing your characters’ souls (or your own, for that matter).

Film Threat by Bobby LePire

The Quake hits a handful of the cliches one expects from a disaster film, as well as having one character’s death not mean as much as it should. However, thanks to strong characterizations and good acting the plot is still engaging. However, the reason to watch the film is the excellent cinematography and awe-inspiring effects.

Movie Nation by Roger Moore

That The Quake can still grab, alarm and thrill is a testament to skilled storytelling, empathetic performances and effects that rewrite the book on how disasters play out on the big screen.

The Hollywood Reporter by Frank Scheck

The Quake offers visceral thrills.

Los Angeles Times by Noel Murray

When the trouble does hit in this film, it hits hard, at which point all the investment in character pays off.

RogerEbert.com

This Quake delivers with skill. The build-up to the disaster nicely intensifies with a feeling of dread, and some of the subtlest early effects are the most powerful.

Slant Magazine by Pat Brown

When the devastating quake finally strikes, it creates a truly suspenseful scenario of vertiginous falls and last-minute saves.

RogerEbert.com by Nell Minow

This Quake delivers with skill. The build-up to the disaster nicely intensifies with a feeling of dread, and some of the subtlest early effects are the most powerful.

Variety by Dennis Harvey

There’s nothing terribly profound or innovative about what The Quake achieves. But like “The Wave” before it, it’s just intelligent and serious enough to give you your escapist cake — deluxe popcorn perils in all their big-screen glory — without making you eat the familiar guilt of empty-calorie overload.

San Francisco Chronicle by Walter Addiego

Joner is a capable actor, but he’s required here to remain for such a long time in a one-note condition of mental fragility that our sympathy for the character starts to give way to exasperation.