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In 2000, a sociopathic financier named Harold Gemps, who possessed a metahuman control over seismic energy and who had committed a few successful crimes as the masked supervillain called the Quakemaster, hit upon a simple, yet powerful scheme. If he could set off "the big one"--a huge earthquake along the San Andreas Fault in California--he could literally change the maps of the United States and Mexico. Furthermore, if he could accurately predict the effect that the earthquake would have on the area, up to and including sinking most of California into the Pacific, then he could benefit from it by making savvy real estate purchases and sales prior to the event. He could create his own "oceanfront property" east of the fault line.

There was a problem, though. Oh, Gemps didn't care about the loss of life or the significant social impact such an event would cause. But in making his calculations, he realized that he could only control the quake the way he needed to if there were two preplanned shockwave epicenters; he needed someone else with powers like his own.

His first target, the Mexican uber called San Andreas, had already been recruited by Seiche to join the villain team Ruin.
Disappointed, he began a long search, which eventually led him close to home when he discovered 14-year-old Pedro Escobar in Los Angeles. Luring Pedro away from his family with promises of fame and fortune, he created an armored costume for the teen (a costume that had the additional benefit of making Pedro seem older) and set him up as his "partner," Richter.

Richter and the Quakemaster performed several successful heists as training for Pedro, then set up for the big job, the huge quake that would send most of California into the ocean and make a billionaire out of Harold Gemps. Fortunately for California, they were stopped by Doctor Tomorrow I, who managed to subdue first Richter, then the Quakemaster, and deliver them to the authorities. But not before several lives were lost during the initial tremors.

Distressed at the shame he'd brought on his family, dismayed over the people killed due to his actions, Pedro turned state's evidence against Gemps, helping to ensure that the former financier suffered a nearly complete fall from grace and would spend the rest of his life in prison. Gemps stewed over this, exerting what influence and money he still had in an attempt to have Pedro murdered in prison.

Sentenced as an adult despite his testimony, Pedro fully expected to spend decades in jail. Fighting off several murder attempts, he grew more and more despondent. He'd been in prison for about three years when he received an offer from, of all things, an entertainment company. It wanted to build a superhero team and didn't particularly care how it got it.

Pedro took the offer. With the help of a special effects teams, it wasn't hard for Monster Man to fake Pedro's death. Before long, he had a new name and, through plastic surgery, a new face. But the name he would be known best by would be the masked hero Earthquake.

Created by Rob Rogers

Earthquake's powers revolve around control of the earth and of vibrations. In part due to his training from Richter, who is very intelligent and had very similar abilities, Earthquake has very sophisticated control over his abilities. He can shake the earth or other people, create blasts of rock, defend himself with a "quake field" of vibration, and more. His most poweful ability, at least on a wide scale, is his ability to create or quell tremendous earthquakes (Shake Them Up III, Shake Them Up IV, Calm the Quake). For obvious reasons, he doesn't employ these often.

The downside to Earthquake's powers is that most of them have a destructive effect on the environment, so he has to be cautious about what he actually uses. His first line of offense against an opponent is typically Rock Blast or Does Shaking Make You Puke?.

Earthquake is a handsome young Hispanic man with brown eyes and black hair. His plastic surgery, designed to make him look less like Pedro, altered the contours of his face and cheekbones, thinned his nose, fleshed out his lips, and gave him a stronger jawline. Where he used to keep his hair cropped short, he now keeps it fairly long and wavy.

His full-body Earthquake costume is designed in a selection of different earth tones, with a mask that leaves his jaw, eyes, and hair visible. It includes an emblem of the Earth on the center, with little triangular points suggesting movement. He's seldom out of costume around the team, but when he is, he favors T-shirts (often depicting movies or attractions from his studio company), shorts, and running shoes with no socks.

Art created with Robert J. Burson's ComicArtist program