Stardew Valley Earthquake Guide

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Callum Marshall

Callum is the gaming managing editor and a certified Stardew Valley aficionado, pouring hundreds if not thousands of hours into this relaxing indie title. While overseeing the day-to-day running of the site, you'll commonly see Callum carve out some time to produce some content on one of his favorite games of all time, and lead from the front. Callum has been around the block within the gaming industry, working as an Editor-in-chief for a number of well-respected gaming outlets, he has worked as a games tester, he has gaming podcast experience, has worked in gaming PR. Basically, you name it, and Callum was probably there or somewhere on the periphery.

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Stardew Valley has a variety of different events that happen throughout the year and at various specific points across your extended playthrough.

The player will likely be very aware of the many festivals that happen throughout the calendar year, replicating the real-world holidays and traditions that we have in our non-pixellated lives. However, several events happen in Stardew Valley through simply getting to a certain point in your playthrough, whereas some others will only happen if you meet certain criteria.

All of these events are vital if you want to complete Stardew Valley fully and see everything that the lovely Eric Barone has packed into this game for you.

This means that players need to understand how to make these events happen and what these events mean for them. Some of these are real game-changers, and you could argue that few are quite as poignant as the titular event of this article, the earthquake in Stardew Valley. This is an event that opens up a whole new realm of possibilities within this quaint little town and offers hours upon hours of exploration, all through one little tremor.

However, you may be wondering why this earthquake is so important when it happens and what exactly occurs when the earthquake takes place. Well, these are all relevant questions, and we intend to answer them all. So without further delay, dive into our Stardew Valley Earthquake Guide.

What Is the Earthquake In Stardew Valley?

The earthquake in Stardew Valley is one of the various planned events that occur as you work through your playthrough. This event will always happen at the same time every time you start a new save file.

When this occurs, you will hear a rumbling in the night, and you will be informed with a message on the screen that there was an earthquake. Then as you emerge from your bed and head outside, if you check the mail, you will see that there is a letter explaining the situation and the damages caused to the town.

In normal circumstances, earthquakes can be disastrous, but this one turns out to be rather serendipitous as rocks topple in the mountains, smashing boulders below, and thus, a new path is revealed for the player. This path leads to a new area called the Railroad Area. This is a place where players can interact with passing trains, visit the spa/bathhouse, access late-game content when it becomes available, and you can also gather forage and resource items in this area too.

When Does The Earthquake Happen In Stardew Valley?

No matter how many times you play this game, the earthquake will always happen in the first year of the game, more specifically, the 3rd day of Summer.

The player will awake to the news, and from then onwards, they will be able to access all the points of interest previously hidden away in the Railroad area. Just for clarity, this area is located in the Mountains, directly behind Robin‘s Carpentry Shop. You’ll occasionally see Abigail and Linus head up there too. 

Why is the Earthquake Important In Stardew Valley?

There are several reasons why the player should rejoice that they have access to the Railroad area. There is an abundance of interesting things that players can find in this area, provided they know how to make the most of everything they find. So to ensure that you are utilizing this space efficiently, here is a quick rundown of all the benefits of this area:

Train

We won’t dwell on this one too long as we already have an in-depth guide, breaking down the various aspects of the Train in Stardew Valley.

However, to keep it brief, when a train is passing through, the player can hang around and will likely be showered in gifts like Ore, Geodes, Clothing, or rare presents, depending on the type of train that is passing through. So on the rare occasion that you do see a train pass through Stardew Valley, make a beeline to the Railroad Area for some free goodies.

Bathhouse

Next, we have the Bathhouse, an interesting building that can be a real lifesaver and make you a much more productive farmer, especially in the first year of your playthrough. As you well know, the energy within Stardew Valley is a commodity. Without energy, you are limited in terms of the tasks you can carry out, and if you can’t stay busy, you can’t make as much money as you would like to. Well, that is where the Bathhouse comes in.

The player can strip down to their trunks and head into the pool area of the Spa, and when they do, they will notice that their energy rises at a rapid rate.

Within a matter of in-game hours, you will have recovered most of your energy, and suddenly, a day that was pretty much over is once again full of possibilities and opportunities. So if you want to make the most of every day on your farm, the Spa is a real game-changer.

Witches Hut

This is an aspect of this area that will not be immediately available to the player, as they will need to have completed the Community Center project to get assigned the particular in-game quest that grants you passage to this area.

However, when you do complete the community Center, the Wizard will get in contact with you. He will inform you that he needs to get his Dark Talisman back from the Witch who lives in the Swamp within the cave located in the northeast area of the Railroad.

He would get it himself but seeing as she is his ex-wife, it’s a little awkward, and as a result, the burden falls on you. However, this is a fun questline and one that is worth doing. As if you complete this, the Wizard allows you to build magical farm buildings, which are very exciting prospects.

Plus, the Witch’s Hut is full of shrines that have varying effects, like allowing you to divorce your partner, turn your children into Doves, and much more. Overall, this is a great thing to complete as soon as possible.

The Mysterious Qi

Then lastly, for the Mysterious Qi questline, the player will need to do a few odd jobs for this mysterious stranger. He will ask you to put Beets in Major Lewis’ fridge; he will ask you to give a Sand Dragon one final meal, and most relevant to this topic, he will ask you to find a Rainbow Shell and place this item in the box on the Train Station Platform.

Just so you know, Rainbow Shells only appear as a forage item on the beach in Summer. So it’s best to get on this early.

What Other Events Occur Naturally In Stardew Valley? 

Now, we could take this very literally and tell you about every single little event that happens within this game, from the holiday festivals, right down to every character’s birthday.

However, we aren’t going to do that. Instead, we just want to highlight the naturally occurring, one-time events that the player will see happen without the need to meet any criteria. So now that the admin is out of the way check them out below:

Accessing the Mines

Mining is such a key aspect of the overall Stardew Valley experience, but you may be shocked to hear that the mines are not immediately available. The player will have to wait five whole days before the boulder blocking the way has been cleared by the Joja company.

You will receive a letter on the fifth day of Spring explaining this. From then on out, you will have access to the Pelican Town mines and, later, the Adventurer’s Guild and the Quarry. 

The Community Centre

The player will also not have access to one of the largest overarching goals of the whole game, the Community Center, for a few days. The player will also need to wait until the 5th day of Spring to access this building, and then they will need to interact with the crafts room bundle to trigger the events that occur the next day.

This will trigger the wizard to send the player a letter, inviting them to their tower to learn the language of the Junimos, allowing the player to understand what each bundle requires and thus allowing the player to complete the Community Center project. Please note that this event cut scene will not occur until you enter the town from the Bus Stop entrance, and it will also not trigger if it is raining that day. 

Mushrooms or Bats?

Some way down the line, the player will be approached by Demetrius when they begin their day, and they will ask the player a peculiar question, Mushrooms or Bats? However, when he explains that he will be using the cave on the farm to carry out ecological experiments, it begins to make a lot more sense.

If the player chooses mushrooms, they will be able to harvest a variety of mushrooms from the pots within. However, if the player chooses Fruit Bats, they will regularly drop fruit on the ground, and the player can use this for themselves.

This will only happen when the player makes a total of 25,000G, which technically is criteria to be met, but it’s something that players will naturally do very quickly, so we are going to pop it in here anyway. However, if you want a more extensive run-through of this choice and the benefits of each, check out my Stardew Valley Mushroom vs. Bats Guide. 

Cat vs. Dog

Then lastly, the player will also be allowed to adopt a cute pet to serve as your sidekick on the farm. The player will have a choice of a cat or dog, and in the intro before the game, the player can even alter the appearance of their animal. Although, even this can be tough.

I have five cats, and it’s hard to pick just one aesthetic. Why can’t I just have five cats in-game! Alas, I digress, but I’m sure there will be enough options to suit you. Or, you can decline this offer and go without a pet, but if you do, know that you are judged.

This event again does have some criteria that need to be met, but it is only asking for the player to make 1,000G in the game, which is less than a week’s worth of work. So we decided to include it here. 

Is This The Same as An Explosion?

This is a very common misconception within Stardew Valley, and the two events are completely different. An earthquake is a one-time event, whereas the Explosion event is an unlikely random event but can happen multiple times across your playthrough.

This event sees a large Meteorite land on your farm overnight. Now, you may think that this would be an inconvenience, but it’s far from it. You see, this Meteor has some very interesting properties. It is loaded with Iridium Ore, and if the player mines this, they can get their hands on a very valuable resource. Once which is in very short supply until about a year or two into the game.

That being said, the player will need to upgrade their Pickaxe to a gold standard to mine this Meteor, but the chances are that you are gunning to improve this tool pretty fast anyway. So make the most of this random occurrence. Plus, if you are interested in this topic and want to know more, check out our upcoming Stardew Valley Explosion Guide. 

Make The Ground Shake Like An Earthquake!

As you can see from the information above, there are a lot of random events and planned events in Stardew Valley, and each one has its own perks for the player.

The earthquake opens up the railroad area, and with that, the player is offered multiple new possibilities and access to end game content when they finally finish their community Center project. We hope that this guide clears up any confusion you had regarding the earthquake in Stardew Valley and as always, thank you for reading SdewHQ.

Stardew Valley Earthquake Guide: FAQs