Gloria interprets the natural disaster as a sign that God wants Jay to go to church while Mitchell and Cameron use it as an excuse to not attend Pepper's party.
Unknowing to Pepper, Cameron and Mitchell have grown to dislike his parties because they take a lot of work and one has to assume a character and dress up in costume.
Since Pepper is on his way to their house, Mitchell starts breaking items to match Cameron's description of the damage.
At the Pritchett house, Gloria (Sofía Vergara) gets angry at Jay (Ed O'Neill) for going golfing instead of going to church with her and Manny (Rico Rodriguez).
"Earthquake" was written by Paul Corrigan and Brad Walsh making it their fifth writing credit for the series.
[3] Part of the plot line was revealed at a Writers Guild of America event at Paley Center in Los Angeles.
[4] On August 1, 2010, Joyce Eng of TV Guide reported that Nathan Lane would appear on Modern Family as Pepper Saltzman.
[3] Lane had approached creators Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan if he could guest star on the series.
[10][11] The episode also became the highest rated scripted show of the original week it aired tying with Glee's "Grilled Cheesus".
[15] She also called Manny the best character saying he "stole the show"[15] James Poniewozik of Time called it "solid and grounded" and also commented ""Earthquake", especially in its main storyline with the Dunphys, worked because it took this basic principle and quickly, simply showed how this family reacts to sudden disorder.
[16] Alan Sepinwall stated in his review "every now and then the show will give us a wholly satisfying, very funny episode with the three groups in isolation.
[21] Also, Nathan Lane was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards.