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1906 San Francisco earthquake

January 19, 2023

"San Francisco earthquake" redirects here. For the 1989 earthquake, see 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. For the 2014 earthquake, see 2014 South Napa earthquake.
"San Francisco fire" redirects here. For the 1851 fire, see San Francisco Fire of 1851.

At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme). High-intensity shaking was felt from Eureka on the North Coast to the Salinas Valley, an agricultural region to the south of the San Francisco Bay Area. Devastating fires soon broke out in San Francisco and lasted for several days. More than 3,000 people died, and over 80% of the city was destroyed. The events are remembered as one of the worst and deadliest earthquakes in the history of the United States. The death toll remains the greatest loss of life from a natural disaster in California's history and high on the lists of American disasters.

1906 San Francisco earthquake
Ruins in the vicinity of Post and Grant Avenue
Eureka
Dunsmuir
Chico
Truckee
Santa Rosa
Salinas
Bakersfield
Fresno
Paso Robles
Santa Monica
Indio
UTC time1906-04-18 13:12:27
ISC event16957905
USGS-ANSSComCat
Local dateApril 18, 1906 (1906-04-18)
Local time05:12:27 (PST)
Magnitude7.9 Mw[1]
Depth5 mi (8.0 km)[2]
Epicenter37°45′N 122°33′W / 37.75°N 122.55°W / 37.75; -122.55Coordinates: 37°45′N 122°33′W / 37.75°N 122.55°W / 37.75; -122.55[2]
FaultSan Andreas Fault
TypeStrike-slip[3]
Areas affectedNorth Coast
San Francisco Bay Area
Central Coast
United States
Max. intensityXI (Extreme)[4]
TsunamiYes[5]
Casualties700–3,000+[6]

Tectonic setting

The San Andreas Fault is a continental transform fault that forms part of the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate.[3] The strike-slip fault is characterized by mainly lateral motion in a dextral sense, where the western (Pacific) plate moves northward relative to the eastern (North American) plate. This fault runs the length of California from the Salton Sea in the south to Cape Mendocino in the north, a distance of about 810 miles (1,300 km). The maximum observed surface displacement was about 20 feet (6 m); geodetic measurements show displacements of up to 28 feet (8.5 m).[7]

Earthquake

 
USGS ShakeMap showing the earthquake's intensity

The 1906 earthquake preceded the development of the Richter magnitude scale by three decades. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the quake on the modern moment magnitude scale is 7.9;[1] values from 7.7 to as high as 8.3 have been proposed.[8] According to findings published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, severe deformations in the Earth's crust took place both before and after the earthquake's impact. Accumulated strain on the faults in the system was relieved during the earthquake, which is the supposed cause of the damage along the 450-kilometer-long (280 mi) segment of the San Andreas plate boundary.[8] The 1906 rupture propagated both northward and southward for a total of 296 miles (476 km).[9] Shaking was felt from Oregon to Los Angeles, and as far inland as central Nevada.[10]

A strong foreshock preceded the main shock by about 20 to 25 seconds. The strong shaking of the main shock lasted about 42 seconds. There were decades of minor earthquakes – more than at any other time in the historical record for northern California – before the 1906 quake. Previously interpreted as precursory activity to the 1906 earthquake, they have been found to have a strong seasonal pattern and are now believed to be caused by large seasonal sediment loads in coastal bays that overlie faults as a result of the erosion caused by hydraulic mining in the later years of the California Gold Rush.[11]

For years, the epicenter of the quake was assumed to be near the town of Olema, in the Point Reyes area of Marin County, due to local earth displacement measurements. In the 1960s, a seismologist at UC Berkeley proposed that the epicenter was more likely offshore of San Francisco, to the northwest of the Golden Gate. The most recent analyses support an offshore location for the epicenter, although significant uncertainty remains.[2] An offshore epicenter is supported by the occurrence of a local tsunami recorded by a tide gauge at the San Francisco Presidio; the wave had an amplitude of approximately 3 inches (7.6 cm) and an approximate period of 40–45 minutes.[12]

Analysis of triangulation data before and after the earthquake strongly suggests that the rupture along the San Andreas Fault was about 500 kilometers (310 mi) in length, in agreement with observed intensity data. The available seismological data support a significantly shorter rupture length, but these observations can be reconciled by allowing propagation at speeds above the S-wave velocity (supershear). Supershear propagation has now been recognized for many earthquakes associated with strike-slip faulting.[13]

Recently, using old photographs and eyewitness accounts, researchers were able to estimate the location of the hypocenter of the earthquake as offshore from San Francisco or near San Juan Bautista, confirming previous estimates.[14]

Intensity

The most important characteristic of the shaking intensity noted in Andrew Lawson's 1908 report was the clear correlation of intensity with underlying geologic conditions. Areas situated in sediment-filled valleys sustained stronger shaking than nearby bedrock sites, and the strongest shaking occurred in areas of former bay where soil liquefaction had occurred. Modern seismic-zonation practice accounts for the differences in seismic hazard posed by varying geologic conditions.[15] The shaking intensity as described on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale reached XI (Extreme) in San Francisco and areas to the north like Santa Rosa where destruction was devastating.

Aftershocks

The main shock was followed by many aftershocks and some remotely triggered events. As with the 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake, there were fewer aftershocks than would have been expected for a shock of that size. Very few of them were located along the trace of the 1906 rupture, tending to concentrate near the ends of the rupture or on other structures away from the San Andreas Fault, such as the Hayward Fault. The only aftershock in the first few days of near M 5 or greater occurred near Santa Cruz at 14:28 PST on April 18, with a magnitude of about 4.9 MI. The largest aftershock happened at 01:10 PST on April 23, west of Eureka with an estimated magnitude of about 6.7 MI , with another of the same size more than three years later at 22:45 PST on October 28 near Cape Mendocino.[16]

Remotely triggered events included an earthquake swarm in the Imperial Valley area, which culminated in an earthquake of about 6.1 MI  at 16:30 PST on April 18, 1906. Another event of this type occurred at 12:31 PST on April 19, 1906, with an estimated magnitude of about 5.0 MI , and an epicenter beneath Santa Monica Bay.[16]

Damage

 
Damaged houses on Howard Street
 
Seismographs on the U.S. east coast recorded the earthquake some 19 minutes later; some early death estimates exceeded 500.[17]

Early death counts ranged from 375[18] to over 500.[17] However, hundreds of fatalities in Chinatown went ignored and unrecorded. The total number of deaths is still uncertain, but various reports presented a range of 700–3,000+. In 2005, the city's Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in support of a resolution written by novelist James Dalessandro ("1906") and city historian Gladys Hansen ("Denial of Disaster") to recognize the figure of 3,000 plus as the official total.[19][20] Most of the deaths occurred within San Francisco, but 189 were reported elsewhere in the Bay Area; nearby cities such as Santa Rosa and San Jose also suffered severe damage. In Monterey County, the earthquake permanently shifted the course of the Salinas River near its mouth. Where previously the river emptied into Monterey Bay between Moss Landing and Watsonville, it was diverted 6 miles (9.7 km) south to a new channel just north of Marina.

Between 227,000 and 300,000 people were left homeless out of a population of about 410,000; half of those who evacuated fled across the bay to Oakland and Berkeley. Newspapers described Golden Gate Park, the Presidio, the Panhandle and the beaches between Ingleside and North Beach as covered with makeshift tents. More than two years later, many of these refugee camps were still in operation.[21]

The earthquake and fire left long-standing and significant pressures on the development of California. At the time of the disaster, San Francisco had been the ninth-largest city in the United States and the largest on the West Coast. Over a period of 60 years, the city had become the financial, trade, and cultural center of the West, operating the busiest port on the West Coast. It was the "gateway to the Pacific", through which growing U.S. economic and military power was projected into the Pacific and Asia. Over 80% of the city was destroyed by the earthquake and fire. Though San Francisco rebuilt quickly, the disaster diverted trade, industry, and population growth south to Los Angeles,[citation needed] which during the 20th century became the largest and most important urban area in the West. Many of the city's leading poets and writers retreated to Carmel-by-the-Sea where, as "The Barness", they established the arts colony reputation that continues today.[22]

The 1908 Lawson Report, a study of the 1906 quake led and edited by Professor Andrew Lawson of the University of California, showed that the same San Andreas Fault which had caused the disaster in San Francisco ran close to Los Angeles as well.[23] The earthquake was the first natural disaster of its magnitude to be documented by photography and motion picture footage and occurred at a time when the science of seismology was blossoming.[citation needed]

Other cities

Although the impact of the earthquake on San Francisco was the most famous, the earthquake also inflicted considerable damage on several other cities. These include San Jose and Santa Rosa, the entire downtown of which was essentially destroyed.[24][25][26]

Fires

 
Arnold Genthe's photograph, looking toward the fire on Sacramento Street

As damaging as the earthquake and its aftershocks were, the fires that burned out of control afterward were even more destructive.[27] It has been estimated that up to 90% of the total destruction was the result of the subsequent fires.[28] Within three days,[29] over 30 fires, caused by ruptured gas mains, destroyed approximately 25,000 buildings on 490 city blocks. The fires cost an estimated $350 million at the time (equivalent to $8.08 billion in 2021).[30]

The Ham and Eggs[31] fire, in the morning on the 18th, at Hayes and Gough Streets,[32] in Hayes Valley, was started by a woman who lit her stove to prepare breakfast, unaware of the badly damaged chimney,[33][34] destroying a 30-block area,[35] including, a college, the Hall of Records and City Hall.[36][37][38][39][40]

Some of the fires were started when San Francisco Fire Department firefighters, untrained in the use of dynamite, attempted to demolish buildings to create firebreaks. The dynamited buildings often caught fire. The city's fire chief, Dennis T. Sullivan, who would have been responsible for coordinating firefighting efforts, had died from injuries sustained in the initial quake.[41] In total, the fires burned for four days and nights.

Most of the destruction in the city was attributed to the fires, since widespread practice by insurers was to indemnify San Francisco properties from fire but not from earthquake damage. Some property owners deliberately set fire to damaged properties to claim them on their insurance. Captain Leonard D. Wildman of the U.S. Army Signal Corps[42] reported that he "was stopped by a fireman who told me that people in that neighborhood were firing their houses...they were told that they would not get their insurance on buildings damaged by the earthquake unless they were damaged by fire".[43]

 
 
Burning of the Mission District (left) and a map showing the extent of the fire

One landmark building lost in the fire was the Palace Hotel, subsequently rebuilt, which had many famous visitors including royalty and celebrated performers. It was constructed in 1875 primarily financed by Bank of California co-founder William Ralston, the "man who built San Francisco". In April 1906, the tenor Enrico Caruso and members of the Metropolitan Opera Company came to San Francisco to give a series of performances at the Grand Opera House. The night after Caruso's performance in Carmen, the tenor was awakened in the early morning in his Palace Hotel suite by a strong jolt. Clutching an autographed photo of President Theodore Roosevelt, Caruso made an effort to get out of the city, first by boat and then by train, and vowed never to return to San Francisco. Caruso died in 1921, having remained true to his word. The Metropolitan Opera Company lost all of its traveling sets and costumes in the earthquake and ensuing fires.[44]

 
"The Story of An Eyewitness"
by Jack London
Read by Elaine Hamby for LibriVox
Audio 00:18:06 (full text)
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Some of the greatest losses from fire were in scientific laboratories. Alice Eastwood, the curator of botany at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, is credited with saving nearly 1,500 specimens, including the entire type specimen collection for a newly discovered and extremely rare species, before the remainder of the largest botanical collection in the western United States was destroyed in the fire.[45][46] The entire laboratory and all the records of Benjamin R. Jacobs, a biochemist who was researching the nutrition of everyday foods, were destroyed.[47] The original California flag used in the 1846 Bear Flag Revolt at Sonoma, which at the time was being stored in a state building in San Francisco, was also destroyed in the fire.[48]

Response

The city's fire chief, Dennis T. Sullivan, was gravely injured when the earthquake first struck and later died from his injuries.[49] The interim fire chief sent an urgent request to the Presidio, a United States Army post on the edge of the stricken city, for dynamite. General Frederick Funston had already decided that the situation required the use of federal troops. Telephoning a San Francisco Police Department officer, he sent word to Mayor Eugene Schmitz of his decision to assist and then ordered federal troops from nearby Angel Island to mobilize and enter the city. Explosives were ferried across the bay from the California Powder Works in what is now Hercules.[citation needed]

 
Soldiers looting during the fire

During the first few days, soldiers provided valuable services like patrolling streets to discourage looting and guarding buildings such as the U.S. Mint, post office, and county jail. They aided the fire department in dynamiting to demolish buildings in the path of the fires. The Army also became responsible for feeding, sheltering, and clothing the tens of thousands of displaced residents of the city. Under the command of Funston's superior, Major General Adolphus Greely, Commanding Officer of the Pacific Division, over 4,000 federal troops saw service during the emergency. Police officers, firefighters, and soldiers would regularly commandeer passing civilians for work details to remove rubble and assist in rescues. On July 1, 1906, non-military authorities assumed responsibility for relief efforts, and the Army withdrew from the city.

On April 18, in response to riots among evacuees and looting, Mayor Schmitz issued and ordered posted a proclamation that "The Federal Troops, the members of the Regular Police Force and all Special Police Officers have been authorized by me to kill any and all persons found engaged in Looting or in the Commission of Any Other Crime".[50] Accusations of soldiers engaging in looting also surfaced.[51] Retired Captain Edward Ord of the 22nd Infantry Regiment was appointed a special police officer by Schmitz and liaised with Greely for relief work with the 22nd Infantry and other military units involved in the emergency. Ord later wrote a long letter[52] to his mother on April 20 regarding Schmitz's "Shoot-to-Kill" order and some "despicable" behavior of certain soldiers of the 22nd Infantry who were looting. He also made it clear that the majority of soldiers served the community well.[51]

Aftermath

 
Evacuees leaving the city
Film shot on April 18, 1906, of the wreckage

Property losses from the disaster have been estimated to be more than $400 million in 1906 dollars.[6] This is equivalent to $9.23 billion in 2021 dollars. An insurance industry source tallies insured losses at $235 million, the equivalent to $5.42 billion in 2021 dollars.[53][54]

Political and business leaders strongly downplayed the effects of the earthquake, fearing loss of outside investment in the city which was badly needed to rebuild.[55] In his first public statement, California Governor George Pardee emphasized the need to rebuild quickly: "This is not the first time that San Francisco has been destroyed by fire, I have not the slightest doubt that the City by the Golden Gate will be speedily rebuilt, and will, almost before we know it, resume her former great activity".[56] The earthquake is not even mentioned in the statement. Fatality and monetary damage estimates were manipulated.[57]

Almost immediately after the quake (and even during the disaster), planning and reconstruction plans were hatched to quickly rebuild the city. Rebuilding funds were immediately tied up by the fact that virtually all the major banks had been sites of the conflagration, requiring a lengthy wait of seven to ten days before their fire-proof vaults could cool sufficiently to be safely opened. The Bank of Italy (now Bank of America) had evacuated its funds and was able to provide liquidity in the immediate aftermath. Its president also immediately chartered and financed the sending of two ships to return with shiploads of lumber from Washington and Oregon mills which provided the initial reconstruction materials and surge.[citation needed] Eleven days after the earthquake a rare Sunday baseball game was played in New York City (which would not allow regular Sunday baseball until 1919) between the Highlanders (soon to be the Yankees) and the Philadelphia Athletics to raise money for quake survivors.[58]

William James, the pioneering American psychologist, was teaching at Stanford at the time of the earthquake and traveled into San Francisco to observe first-hand its aftermath. He was most impressed by the positive attitude of the survivors and the speed with which they improvised services and created order out of chaos.[59] This formed the basis of the chapter "On some Mental Effects of the Earthquake" in his book Memories and Studies.[60]

H. G. Wells had just arrived in New York on his first visit to America when he learned of the San Francisco earthquake. What struck him about the reaction of those around him was that "it does not seem to have affected any one with a sense of final destruction, with any foreboding of irreparable disaster. Every one is talking of it this afternoon, and no one is in the least degree dismayed. I have talked and listened in two clubs, watched people in cars and in the street, and one man is glad that Chinatown will be cleared out for good; another's chief solicitude is for Millet's Man with a Hoe. 'They'll cut it out of the frame,' he says, a little anxiously. 'Sure.' But there is no doubt anywhere that San Francisco can be rebuilt, larger, better, and soon. Just as there would be none at all if all this New York that has so obsessed me with its limitless bigness was itself a blazing ruin. I believe these people would more than half like the situation."[61]

 
View from the Ferry Building tower, southwest down on Market Street
 
The Agassiz statue in front of the Zoology building (now building 420), Stanford University
 
Damage caused to the Summit Tunnel along the South Pacific Coast Railroad by the earthquake, with the north tunnel portal in the background and Wrights, California just outside of that portal

Reconstruction

The earthquake was crucial in the development of the University of California, San Francisco and its medical facilities. Until 1906, the school faculty had provided care at the City-County Hospital (now the San Francisco General Hospital), but did not have a hospital of its own. Following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, more than 40,000 people were relocated to a makeshift tent city in Golden Gate Park and were treated by the faculty of the Affiliated Colleges. This brought the school, which until then was located on the western outskirts of the city, in contact with significant population and fueled the commitment of the school towards civic responsibility and health care, increasing the momentum towards the construction of its own health facilities. In April 1907, one of the buildings was renovated for outpatient care with 75 beds. This created the need to train nursing students, and the UC Training School for Nurses was established, adding a fourth professional school to the Affiliated Colleges.[62]

The grandeur of citywide reconstruction schemes required investment from Eastern monetary sources, hence the spin and de-emphasis of the earthquake, the promulgation of the tough new building codes, and subsequent reputation sensitive actions such as the official low death toll. One of the more famous and ambitious plans came from famed urban planner Daniel Burnham. His bold plan called for, among other proposals, Haussmann-style avenues, boulevards, arterial thoroughfares that radiated across the city, a massive civic center complex with classical structures, and what would have been the largest urban park in the world, stretching from Twin Peaks to Lake Merced with a large atheneum at its peak. But this plan was dismissed during the aftermath of the earthquake.[citation needed] For example, real estate investors and other land owners were against the idea because of the large amount of land the city would have to purchase to realize such proposals.[63] While the original street grid was restored, many of Burnham's proposals inadvertently saw the light of day, such as a neoclassical civic center complex, wider streets, a preference of arterial thoroughfares, a subway under Market Street, a more people-friendly Fisherman's Wharf, and a monument to the city on Telegraph Hill, Coit Tower.[citation needed]

City fathers likewise attempted at the time to eliminate the Chinese population and export Chinatown (and other poor populations) to the edge of the county where the Chinese could still contribute to the local taxbase.[64] The Chinese occupants had other ideas and prevailed instead. Chinatown was rebuilt in the newer, modern, Western form that exists today. The destruction of City Hall and the Hall of Records enabled thousands of Chinese immigrants to claim residency and citizenship, creating a backdoor to the Chinese Exclusion Act, and bring in their relatives from China.[65][66][67]

The earthquake was also responsible for the development of the Pacific Heights neighborhood. The immense power of the earthquake had destroyed almost all of the mansions on Nob Hill except for the James C. Flood Mansion. Others that had not been destroyed were dynamited by the Army forces aiding the firefighting efforts in attempts to create firebreaks. As one indirect result, the wealthy looked westward where the land was cheap and relatively undeveloped, and where there were better views. Constructing new mansions without reclaiming and clearing rubble simply sped attaining new homes in the tent city during the reconstruction.[citation needed]

Reconstruction was swift, and largely completed by 1915, in time for the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition which celebrated the reconstruction of the city and its "rise from the ashes". Since 1915, the city has officially commemorated the disaster each year by gathering the remaining survivors at Lotta's Fountain, a fountain in the city's financial district that served as a meeting point during the disaster for people to look for loved ones and exchange information.[citation needed]

Housing

 
One of the eleven housing camps

The Army built 5,610 redwood and fir "relief houses" to accommodate 20,000 displaced people. The houses were designed by John McLaren, and were grouped in eleven camps, packed close to each other and rented to people for two dollars per month until rebuilding was completed. They were painted navy blue, partly to blend in with the site and partly because the military had large quantities of navy blue paint on hand. The camps had a peak population of 16,448 people, but by 1907 most people had moved out. The camps were then re-used as garages, storage spaces or shops. The cottages cost on average $100 to build. The $2 monthly rents went towards the full purchase price of $50. Most of the shacks have been destroyed, but a small number survived. One of the modest 720 sq ft (67 m2) homes was purchased in 2006 for more than $600,000.[68] The last official refugee camp was closed on June 30, 1908.[69]

A 2017 study found that the fire had the effect of increasing the share of land used for nonresidential purposes: "Overall, relative to unburned blocks, residential land shares on burned blocks fell while nonresidential land shares rose by 1931. The study also provides insight into what held the city back from making these changes before 1906: the presence of old residential buildings. In reconstruction, developers built relatively fewer of these buildings, and the majority of the reduction came through single-family houses. Also, aside from merely expanding nonresidential uses in many neighborhoods, the fire created economic opportunities in new areas, resulting in clusters of business activity that emerged only in the wake of the disaster. These effects of the fire still remain today, and thus large shocks can be sufficient catalysts for permanently reshaping urban settings."[70]

Relief

 
A derailed locomotive.

During the first few days after news of the disaster reached the rest of the world, relief efforts reached over $5,000,000.[71] London raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. Individual citizens and businesses donated large sums of money for the relief effort: Standard Oil and Andrew Carnegie each gave $100,000; the Dominion of Canada made a special appropriation of $100,000; and even the Bank of Canada in Ottawa gave $25,000.[71] The U.S. government quickly voted for one million dollars in relief supplies which were immediately rushed to the area, including supplies for food kitchens and many thousands of tents that city dwellers would occupy the next several years.[72] These relief efforts were not enough to get families on their feet again, and consequently the burden was placed on wealthier members of the city, who were reluctant to assist in the rebuilding of homes they were not responsible for. All residents were eligible for daily meals served from a number of communal soup kitchens, and citizens as far away as Idaho and Utah were known to send daily loaves of bread to San Francisco as relief supplies were coordinated by the railroads.[73]

Insurance payments

Insurance companies, faced with staggering claims of $250 million,[74] paid out between $235 million and $265 million on policyholders' claims, often for fire damage only, since shake damage from earthquakes was excluded from coverage under most policies.[75][76] At least 137 insurance companies were directly involved and another 17 as reinsurers.[77] Twenty companies went bankrupt.[76] Lloyd's of London reports having paid all claims in full, more than $50 million,[78] thanks to the leadership of Cuthbert Heath. Insurance companies in Hartford, Connecticut, report paying every claim in full, with the Hartford Fire Insurance Company paying over $11 million and Aetna Insurance Company almost $3 million.[76] The insurance payments heavily affected the international financial system. Gold transfers from European insurance companies to policyholders in San Francisco led to a rise in interest rates, subsequently to a lack of available loans and finally to the Knickerbocker Trust Company crisis of October 1907 which led to the Panic of 1907.[79]

After the 1906 earthquake, global discussion arose concerning a legally flawless exclusion of the earthquake hazard from fire insurance contracts. It was pressed ahead mainly by re-insurers. Their aim: a uniform solution to insurance payouts resulting from fires caused by earthquakes. Until 1910, a few countries, especially in Europe, followed the call for an exclusion of the earthquake hazard from all fire insurance contracts. In the U.S., the question was discussed differently. But the traumatized public reacted with fierce opposition. On August 1, 1909, the California Senate enacted the California Standard Form of Fire Insurance Policy, which did not contain any earthquake clause. Thus the state decided that insurers would have to pay again if another earthquake was followed by fires. Other earthquake-endangered countries followed the California example.[80]

Centennial commemorations

The 1906 Centennial Alliance[81] was set up as a clearing-house for various centennial events commemorating the earthquake. Award presentations, religious services, a National Geographic TV movie,[82] a projection of fire onto the Coit Tower,[83] memorials, and lectures were part of the commemorations. The USGS Earthquake Hazards Program issued a series of Internet documents,[84] and the tourism industry promoted the 100th anniversary as well.[85]

Eleven survivors of the 1906 earthquake attended the centennial commemorations in 2006, including Irma Mae Weule (1899–2008),[86] who was the oldest survivor of the quake at the time of her death in August 2008, aged 109.[87] Vivian Illing (1900–2009) was believed to be the second-oldest survivor at the time of her death, aged 108, leaving Herbert Hamrol (1903–2009) as the last known remaining survivor at the time of his death, aged 106. Another survivor, Libera Armstrong (1902–2007), attended the 2006 anniversary but died in 2007, aged 105.[88] Shortly after Hamrol's death, two additional survivors were discovered. William Del Monte, then 103, and Jeanette Scola Trapani (1902–2009),[89] 106, stated that they stopped attending events commemorating the earthquake when it became too much trouble for them.[90] Del Monte and another survivor, Rose Cliver (1902–2012), then 106, attended the earthquake reunion celebration on April 18, 2009, the 103rd anniversary of the earthquake.[91] Nancy Stoner Sage (1905–2010) died, aged 105, in Colorado just three days short of the 104th anniversary of the earthquake on April 18, 2010. Del Monte attended the event at Lotta's Fountain in 2010.[92] 107-year-old George Quilici (1905–2012) died in May 2012,[93] and 113-year-old Ruth Newman (1901–2015) in July 2015.[94] William Del Monte (1906–2016), who died 11 days shy of his 110th birthday, was thought to be the last survivor.[95]

In 2005 the National Film Registry added San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, April 18, 1906, a newsreel documentary made soon after the earthquake, to its list of American films worthy of preservation.[96]

Panoramas

 
San Francisco burning, view from St. Francis Hotel, at Union Square, Copyright, Pillsbury Pictures, 18 April 1906.[97] Geary Street is in center, terminating at Market Street. The San Francisco Call's domed Call Building, is right-center, at Newspaper Row. Its wood interior burned, but its steel, concrete and stone frame survived.
 
San Francisco, from Twin Peaks, looking down at Eureka Valley, with Market Street, center foreground leading towards the now-previous City Hall dome ruins on left, and The San Francisco Call's domed Call Building on right, center background circa April 18–21, 1906
 
San Francisco 160-degree panorama, from Nob Hill, showing Telegraph Hill, Yerba Buena Island, Ferry Building tower, Fairmont Hotel, The San Francisco Call's domed Call Building, Potrero Hill, San Bruno Mountain, Twin Peaks, showing damage, Copyright, Kilborn & Burn, 31 May 1906 [98][99]
 
Panoramic view of earthquake and fire damage, looking from Stanford Mansion site, Nob Hill, April 18–21, 1906. Note, from left to right (1) Yerba Buena Island, (2) Grace Cathedral, ...(20) the ruins of the now-previous City Hall dome at far right.[100]
 
San Francisco in ruins, waterfront in foreground, with sunset over Golden Gate in background, looking from 2,000 feet (610 m) above San Francisco Bay, by George R. Lawrence using kite aerial photography, copyright 28 May 1906. Market Street leads directly away from Ferry Building tower, center foreground, towards Twin Peaks, center-left background.[101][102][103]

In popular culture

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b . Berkeley Seismological Laboratory. January 28, 2008. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008.
  2. ^ a b c "Location of the Focal Region and Hypocenter of the California Earthquake of April 18, 1906". alomax.free.fr.
  3. ^ a b Segall, P.; Lisowski, M. (1990), "Surface Displacements in the 1906 San Francisco and 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquakes", Science, 250 (4985): 1241–4, Bibcode:1990Sci...250.1241S, doi:10.1126/science.250.4985.1241, PMID 17829210, S2CID 23913195
  4. ^ Stover, C.W.; Coffman, J.L. (1993), Seismicity of the United States, 1568–1989 (Revised), U.S. Geological Survey professional paper 1527, United States Government Printing Office, p. 75
  5. ^ Geist, E.L.; Zoback, M.L. (1999), "Analysis of the tsunami generated by the Mw 7.8 1906 San Francisco earthquake", Geology, 27 (1): 15–18, Bibcode:1999Geo....27...15G, doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1999)027<0015:aottgb>2.3.co;2
  6. ^ a b USGS, Casualties and damage after the 1906 Earthquake, United States Geological Survey
  7. ^ 1906 San Francisco Quake: How large was the offset? December 22, 2016, at the Wayback Machine USGS Earthquake Hazards Program — Northern California. Retrieved September 3, 2016
  8. ^ a b Thatcher, Wayne (December 10, 1975). "Strain accumulation and release mechanism of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake". Journal of Geophysical Research. 80 (35): 4862–4872. Bibcode:1975JGR....80.4862T. doi:10.1029/JB080i035p04862.
  9. ^ 1906 Earthquake: How long was the 1906 Crack? October 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine USGS Earthquake Hazards Program – Northern California. Retrieved September 3, 2006
  10. ^ Christine Gibson December 5, 2010, at the Wayback Machine "Our 10 Greatest Natural Disasters," American Heritage, Aug./Sept. 2006.
  11. ^ Westaway, R. (2002). "Seasonal Seismicity of Northern California Before the Great 1906 Earthquake". Pure and Applied Geophysics. 159 (1–3): 7–62. Bibcode:2002PApGe.159....7W. doi:10.1007/PL00001268.
  12. ^ Tsunami Record from the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, United States Geological Survey, 2008
  13. ^ Song S.G; Beroza G.C.; Segall P. (2008). "A Unified Source Model for the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake" (PDF). Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. 98 (2): 823–831. Bibcode:2008BuSSA..98..823S. doi:10.1785/0120060402.
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  15. ^ . Archived from the original on July 27, 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2009.
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  45. ^ Alice Eastwood, The Coniferae of the Santa Lucia Mountains
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  54. ^ Brady, Matt. "1906 Quake Shook Up Insurance Industry Worldwide." National Underwriter/P&C [New York] April 18, 2006: 12–16. Print.
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  56. ^ San Francisco History September 24, 2015, at the Wayback Machine The New San Francisco Magazine May 1906
  57. ^ The Great Earthquake and Firestorms of 1906 June 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Philip L. Fradkin
  58. ^ Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game, John Thorn, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2011.
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  65. ^ Strupp, Christoph (July 19, 2006). "Dealing with Disaster: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906" – via escholarship.org. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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  68. ^ Reality Times: April 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine 1906 San Francisco Earthquake Housing Is Valuable Piece Of History by Blanche Evans
  69. ^ Fradkin, Philip L. The Great Earthquake and Firestorms of 1906: How San Francisco Nearly Destroyed Itself. Berkeley: University of California, 2005. Print. p.225
  70. ^ Siodla, James (2017). "Clean slate: Land-use changes in San Francisco after the 1906 disaster". Explorations in Economic History. 65: 1. doi:10.1016/j.eeh.2017.04.001.
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References

  • Double Cone Quarterly, Fall Equinox, volume VII, Number 3 (2004).
  • American Society of Civil Engineers (1907). Transactions. Paper No. 1056. The Effects of the San Francisco Earthquake of April 18th, 1906, on Engineering Constructions: Reports Of A General Committee And Of Six Special Committees Of The San Francisco Association Of Members Of The American Society Of Civil Engineers. Retrieved August 15, 2009.
  • Greely, Adolphus W. (1906). Earthquake in California, April 18, 1906. Special Report on the Relief Operations Conducted by the Military Authorities. Washington: Government Printing Office. Retrieved August 15, 2009.
  • Gilbert, Grove Karl; Richard Lewis Humphrey; John Stephen Sewell & Frank Soule (1907). The San Francisco Earthquake And Fire of April 18th, 1906 And Their Effects On Structures And Structural Materials. Washington: Government Printing Office. Retrieved August 15, 2009.
  • The San Francisco Earthquake And Fire: A Presentation of Facts And Resulting. New York: The Roebling Construction Company. 1906. Retrieved August 15, 2009.
  • Jordan, David Starr; John Casper Branner; Charles Derleth Jr.; Stephen Taber; F. Omari; Harold W. Fairbanks; Mary Hunter Austin (1907). The California Earthquake of 1906. San Francisco: A. M. Robertson. Retrieved August 15, 2009.
  • Mining And Scientific Press; T. A. Rickard; G. K. Gilbert; S. B. Christy; et al. (1907). After Earthquake And Fire: A Reprint Of The Articles And Editorial Comment Appearing In The Mining And Scientific Press. San Francisco: Mining And Scientific Press. Retrieved August 15, 2009.
  • Russell Sage Foundation; Charles J. O'Connor; Francis H. McLean; Helen Swett Artieda; James Marvin Motley; Jessica Peixotto; Mary Roberts Coolidge (1907). San Francisco Relief Survey: The Organization And Methods Of Relief Used After The Earthquake And Fire Of April 18, 1906. Survey Associates, Inc. (New York), Wm. F. Fell Co. (Philadelphia). Retrieved August 15, 2009.
  • Schussler, Hermann (1907). The Water Supply Of San Francisco, California Before, During And After The Earthquake of April 18, 1906 and the Subsequent Conflagration. New York: Martin B. Brown Press. Retrieved August 15, 2009.
  • Tyler, Sydney; Harry Fielding Reid (1908). The California Earthquake of April 18, 1906: Report of the State Earthquake Investigation Commission. Volume one. Washington, D.C.: The Carnegie Institution of Washington.
  • Tyler, Sydney; Harry Fielding Reid (1910). The California Earthquake of April 18, 1906: Report of the State Earthquake Investigation Commission. Volume two. Washington, D.C.: The Carnegie Institution of Washington.
  • Wald, David J.; Kanamori, Hiroo; Helmberger, Donald V.; Heaton, Thomas H. (1993), , Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Seismological Society of America, 83 (4): 981–1019, Bibcode:1993BuSSA..83..981W, doi:10.1785/BSSA0830040981, S2CID 129739379, archived from the original on January 9, 2009
  • Winchester, Simon, A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906. HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 2005. ISBN 0-06-057199-3
  • Bronson, William (1959). The Earth Shook, the Sky Burned. Doubleday.
Contemporary disaster accounts
  • Aitken, Frank W.; Edward Hilton (1906). A History of the Earthquake And Fire in San Francisco. San Francisco: The Edward Hilton Co. Retrieved August 15, 2009.
  • Banks, Charles Eugene; Opie Percival Read (1906). The History of the San Francisco Disaster And Mount Vesuvius Horror. C. E. Thomas. Retrieved August 15, 2009.
  • Givens, John David; Opie Percival Read (1906). San Francisco in Ruins: A Pictorial History. San Francisco: Leon C. Osteyee. Retrieved August 15, 2009.
  • Keeler, Charles (1906). San Francisco Through Earthquake And Fire. San Francisco: Paul Elder And Company. Retrieved August 15, 2009.
  • London, Jack. . London's report from the scene. Originally published in Collier's Magazine, May 5, 1906.
  • Morris, Charles (1906). The San Francisco Calamity By Earthquake And Fire. J. C. Winston Company. ISBN 9780806509846. Retrieved August 15, 2009.
  • Tyler, Sydney; Ralph Stockman Tarr (1908). San Francisco's Great Disaster. Philadelphia: P. W. Ziegler Co. Retrieved August 15, 2009.
  • White, Trumbull; Richard Linthicum (1906). Complete Story of the San Francisco Horror. Hubert D. Russell. Retrieved August 15, 2009.

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to San Francisco earthquake of 1906.
  • The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake February 11, 2017, at the Wayback Machine – United States Geological Survey
  • 1906 San Francisco earthquake at Curlie
  • The 1906 Earthquake and Fire – National Archives
  • Before and After the Great Earthquake and Fire: Early Films of San Francisco, 1897–1916 – American Memory at the Library of Congress
  • A geologic tour of the San Francisco earthquake, 100 years later – American Geological Institute
  • The Great 1906 Earthquake and Fire – Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco website
  • The Great 1906 Earthquake and Fire – Bancroft Library
  • Mark Twain and the San Francisco Earthquake – Shapell Manuscript Foundation
  • Several videos of the aftermath – Internet Archive
  • San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, April 18, 1906
  • Seismographs of the earthquake taken from the Lick Observatory from the Lick Observatory Records Digital Archive, UC Santa Cruz Library's Digital Collections June 11, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  • Timeline of the San Francisco Earthquake April 18 – 23, 1906 – The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco
  • JB Monaco Photography – Photographic account of earthquake and fire aftermath from well-known North Beach photographer
  • Tsunami Record from the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake – USGS
  • The International Seismological Centre has a bibliography and/or authoritative data for this event.

January 19, 2023
1906, francisco, earthquake, francisco, earthquake, redirects, here, 1989, earthquake, 1989, loma, prieta, earthquake, 2014, earthquake, 2014, south, napa, earthquake, francisco, fire, redirects, here, 1851, fire, francisco, fire, 1851, pacific, standard, time. San Francisco earthquake redirects here For the 1989 earthquake see 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake For the 2014 earthquake see 2014 South Napa earthquake San Francisco fire redirects here For the 1851 fire see San Francisco Fire of 1851 At 05 12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday April 18 1906 the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7 9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI Extreme High intensity shaking was felt from Eureka on the North Coast to the Salinas Valley an agricultural region to the south of the San Francisco Bay Area Devastating fires soon broke out in San Francisco and lasted for several days More than 3 000 people died and over 80 of the city was destroyed The events are remembered as one of the worst and deadliest earthquakes in the history of the United States The death toll remains the greatest loss of life from a natural disaster in California s history and high on the lists of American disasters 1906 San Francisco earthquakeRuins in the vicinity of Post and Grant AvenueEurekaDunsmuirChicoTruckeeSanta RosaSalinasBakersfieldFresnoPaso RoblesSanta MonicaIndioUTC time1906 04 18 13 12 27ISC event16957905USGS ANSSComCatLocal dateApril 18 1906 1906 04 18 Local time05 12 27 PST Magnitude7 9 Mw 1 Depth5 mi 8 0 km 2 Epicenter37 45 N 122 33 W 37 75 N 122 55 W 37 75 122 55 Coordinates 37 45 N 122 33 W 37 75 N 122 55 W 37 75 122 55 2 FaultSan Andreas FaultTypeStrike slip 3 Areas affectedNorth Coast San Francisco Bay Area Central Coast United StatesMax intensityXI Extreme 4 TsunamiYes 5 Casualties700 3 000 6 Contents 1 Tectonic setting 2 Earthquake 2 1 Intensity 2 2 Aftershocks 3 Damage 3 1 Other cities 4 Fires 5 Response 6 Aftermath 6 1 Reconstruction 6 2 Housing 6 3 Relief 6 4 Insurance payments 7 Centennial commemorations 8 Panoramas 9 In popular culture 10 See also 11 Notes 12 References 13 External linksTectonic setting EditThe San Andreas Fault is a continental transform fault that forms part of the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate 3 The strike slip fault is characterized by mainly lateral motion in a dextral sense where the western Pacific plate moves northward relative to the eastern North American plate This fault runs the length of California from the Salton Sea in the south to Cape Mendocino in the north a distance of about 810 miles 1 300 km The maximum observed surface displacement was about 20 feet 6 m geodetic measurements show displacements of up to 28 feet 8 5 m 7 Earthquake Edit USGS ShakeMap showing the earthquake s intensity The 1906 earthquake preceded the development of the Richter magnitude scale by three decades The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the quake on the modern moment magnitude scale is 7 9 1 values from 7 7 to as high as 8 3 have been proposed 8 According to findings published in the Journal of Geophysical Research severe deformations in the Earth s crust took place both before and after the earthquake s impact Accumulated strain on the faults in the system was relieved during the earthquake which is the supposed cause of the damage along the 450 kilometer long 280 mi segment of the San Andreas plate boundary 8 The 1906 rupture propagated both northward and southward for a total of 296 miles 476 km 9 Shaking was felt from Oregon to Los Angeles and as far inland as central Nevada 10 A strong foreshock preceded the main shock by about 20 to 25 seconds The strong shaking of the main shock lasted about 42 seconds There were decades of minor earthquakes more than at any other time in the historical record for northern California before the 1906 quake Previously interpreted as precursory activity to the 1906 earthquake they have been found to have a strong seasonal pattern and are now believed to be caused by large seasonal sediment loads in coastal bays that overlie faults as a result of the erosion caused by hydraulic mining in the later years of the California Gold Rush 11 For years the epicenter of the quake was assumed to be near the town of Olema in the Point Reyes area of Marin County due to local earth displacement measurements In the 1960s a seismologist at UC Berkeley proposed that the epicenter was more likely offshore of San Francisco to the northwest of the Golden Gate The most recent analyses support an offshore location for the epicenter although significant uncertainty remains 2 An offshore epicenter is supported by the occurrence of a local tsunami recorded by a tide gauge at the San Francisco Presidio the wave had an amplitude of approximately 3 inches 7 6 cm and an approximate period of 40 45 minutes 12 Analysis of triangulation data before and after the earthquake strongly suggests that the rupture along the San Andreas Fault was about 500 kilometers 310 mi in length in agreement with observed intensity data The available seismological data support a significantly shorter rupture length but these observations can be reconciled by allowing propagation at speeds above the S wave velocity supershear Supershear propagation has now been recognized for many earthquakes associated with strike slip faulting 13 Recently using old photographs and eyewitness accounts researchers were able to estimate the location of the hypocenter of the earthquake as offshore from San Francisco or near San Juan Bautista confirming previous estimates 14 Intensity Edit The most important characteristic of the shaking intensity noted in Andrew Lawson s 1908 report was the clear correlation of intensity with underlying geologic conditions Areas situated in sediment filled valleys sustained stronger shaking than nearby bedrock sites and the strongest shaking occurred in areas of former bay where soil liquefaction had occurred Modern seismic zonation practice accounts for the differences in seismic hazard posed by varying geologic conditions 15 The shaking intensity as described on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale reached XI Extreme in San Francisco and areas to the north like Santa Rosa where destruction was devastating Aftershocks Edit The main shock was followed by many aftershocks and some remotely triggered events As with the 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake there were fewer aftershocks than would have been expected for a shock of that size Very few of them were located along the trace of the 1906 rupture tending to concentrate near the ends of the rupture or on other structures away from the San Andreas Fault such as the Hayward Fault The only aftershock in the first few days of near M 5 or greater occurred near Santa Cruz at 14 28 PST on April 18 with a magnitude of about 4 9 MI The largest aftershock happened at 01 10 PST on April 23 west of Eureka with an estimated magnitude of about 6 7 MI with another of the same size more than three years later at 22 45 PST on October 28 near Cape Mendocino 16 Remotely triggered events included an earthquake swarm in the Imperial Valley area which culminated in an earthquake of about 6 1 MI at 16 30 PST on April 18 1906 Another event of this type occurred at 12 31 PST on April 19 1906 with an estimated magnitude of about 5 0 MI and an epicenter beneath Santa Monica Bay 16 Damage Edit Damaged houses on Howard Street Seismographs on the U S east coast recorded the earthquake some 19 minutes later some early death estimates exceeded 500 17 Early death counts ranged from 375 18 to over 500 17 However hundreds of fatalities in Chinatown went ignored and unrecorded The total number of deaths is still uncertain but various reports presented a range of 700 3 000 In 2005 the city s Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in support of a resolution written by novelist James Dalessandro 1906 and city historian Gladys Hansen Denial of Disaster to recognize the figure of 3 000 plus as the official total 19 20 Most of the deaths occurred within San Francisco but 189 were reported elsewhere in the Bay Area nearby cities such as Santa Rosa and San Jose also suffered severe damage In Monterey County the earthquake permanently shifted the course of the Salinas River near its mouth Where previously the river emptied into Monterey Bay between Moss Landing and Watsonville it was diverted 6 miles 9 7 km south to a new channel just north of Marina Between 227 000 and 300 000 people were left homeless out of a population of about 410 000 half of those who evacuated fled across the bay to Oakland and Berkeley Newspapers described Golden Gate Park the Presidio the Panhandle and the beaches between Ingleside and North Beach as covered with makeshift tents More than two years later many of these refugee camps were still in operation 21 Selected Mercalli intensitiesMMI LocationsXI Extreme San Francisco Santa RosaX Extreme Sebastopol San BrunoIX Violent San Jose Point ArenaVIII Severe Eureka SalinasVII Very strong Truckee ParkfieldVI Strong Willows FresnoV Moderate Chico Paso RoblesIV Light Dunsmuir BakersfieldIII Weak Santa Monica IndioU S Earthquake Intensity Database NGDCThe earthquake and fire left long standing and significant pressures on the development of California At the time of the disaster San Francisco had been the ninth largest city in the United States and the largest on the West Coast Over a period of 60 years the city had become the financial trade and cultural center of the West operating the busiest port on the West Coast It was the gateway to the Pacific through which growing U S economic and military power was projected into the Pacific and Asia Over 80 of the city was destroyed by the earthquake and fire Though San Francisco rebuilt quickly the disaster diverted trade industry and population growth south to Los Angeles citation needed which during the 20th century became the largest and most important urban area in the West Many of the city s leading poets and writers retreated to Carmel by the Sea where as The Barness they established the arts colony reputation that continues today 22 The 1908 Lawson Report a study of the 1906 quake led and edited by Professor Andrew Lawson of the University of California showed that the same San Andreas Fault which had caused the disaster in San Francisco ran close to Los Angeles as well 23 The earthquake was the first natural disaster of its magnitude to be documented by photography and motion picture footage and occurred at a time when the science of seismology was blossoming citation needed Other cities Edit Although the impact of the earthquake on San Francisco was the most famous the earthquake also inflicted considerable damage on several other cities These include San Jose and Santa Rosa the entire downtown of which was essentially destroyed 24 25 26 Fires Edit Arnold Genthe s photograph looking toward the fire on Sacramento Street As damaging as the earthquake and its aftershocks were the fires that burned out of control afterward were even more destructive 27 It has been estimated that up to 90 of the total destruction was the result of the subsequent fires 28 Within three days 29 over 30 fires caused by ruptured gas mains destroyed approximately 25 000 buildings on 490 city blocks The fires cost an estimated 350 million at the time equivalent to 8 08 billion in 2021 30 The Ham and Eggs 31 fire in the morning on the 18th at Hayes and Gough Streets 32 in Hayes Valley was started by a woman who lit her stove to prepare breakfast unaware of the badly damaged chimney 33 34 destroying a 30 block area 35 including a college the Hall of Records and City Hall 36 37 38 39 40 Some of the fires were started when San Francisco Fire Department firefighters untrained in the use of dynamite attempted to demolish buildings to create firebreaks The dynamited buildings often caught fire The city s fire chief Dennis T Sullivan who would have been responsible for coordinating firefighting efforts had died from injuries sustained in the initial quake 41 In total the fires burned for four days and nights Most of the destruction in the city was attributed to the fires since widespread practice by insurers was to indemnify San Francisco properties from fire but not from earthquake damage Some property owners deliberately set fire to damaged properties to claim them on their insurance Captain Leonard D Wildman of the U S Army Signal Corps 42 reported that he was stopped by a fireman who told me that people in that neighborhood were firing their houses they were told that they would not get their insurance on buildings damaged by the earthquake unless they were damaged by fire 43 Burning of the Mission District left and a map showing the extent of the fire One landmark building lost in the fire was the Palace Hotel subsequently rebuilt which had many famous visitors including royalty and celebrated performers It was constructed in 1875 primarily financed by Bank of California co founder William Ralston the man who built San Francisco In April 1906 the tenor Enrico Caruso and members of the Metropolitan Opera Company came to San Francisco to give a series of performances at the Grand Opera House The night after Caruso s performance in Carmen the tenor was awakened in the early morning in his Palace Hotel suite by a strong jolt Clutching an autographed photo of President Theodore Roosevelt Caruso made an effort to get out of the city first by boat and then by train and vowed never to return to San Francisco Caruso died in 1921 having remained true to his word The Metropolitan Opera Company lost all of its traveling sets and costumes in the earthquake and ensuing fires 44 The Story of An Eyewitness by Jack LondonRead by Elaine Hamby for LibriVox source source Audio 00 18 06 full text Problems playing this file See media help Some of the greatest losses from fire were in scientific laboratories Alice Eastwood the curator of botany at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco is credited with saving nearly 1 500 specimens including the entire type specimen collection for a newly discovered and extremely rare species before the remainder of the largest botanical collection in the western United States was destroyed in the fire 45 46 The entire laboratory and all the records of Benjamin R Jacobs a biochemist who was researching the nutrition of everyday foods were destroyed 47 The original California flag used in the 1846 Bear Flag Revolt at Sonoma which at the time was being stored in a state building in San Francisco was also destroyed in the fire 48 Response EditThe city s fire chief Dennis T Sullivan was gravely injured when the earthquake first struck and later died from his injuries 49 The interim fire chief sent an urgent request to the Presidio a United States Army post on the edge of the stricken city for dynamite General Frederick Funston had already decided that the situation required the use of federal troops Telephoning a San Francisco Police Department officer he sent word to Mayor Eugene Schmitz of his decision to assist and then ordered federal troops from nearby Angel Island to mobilize and enter the city Explosives were ferried across the bay from the California Powder Works in what is now Hercules citation needed Soldiers looting during the fire During the first few days soldiers provided valuable services like patrolling streets to discourage looting and guarding buildings such as the U S Mint post office and county jail They aided the fire department in dynamiting to demolish buildings in the path of the fires The Army also became responsible for feeding sheltering and clothing the tens of thousands of displaced residents of the city Under the command of Funston s superior Major General Adolphus Greely Commanding Officer of the Pacific Division over 4 000 federal troops saw service during the emergency Police officers firefighters and soldiers would regularly commandeer passing civilians for work details to remove rubble and assist in rescues On July 1 1906 non military authorities assumed responsibility for relief efforts and the Army withdrew from the city On April 18 in response to riots among evacuees and looting Mayor Schmitz issued and ordered posted a proclamation that The Federal Troops the members of the Regular Police Force and all Special Police Officers have been authorized by me to kill any and all persons found engaged in Looting or in the Commission of Any Other Crime 50 Accusations of soldiers engaging in looting also surfaced 51 Retired Captain Edward Ord of the 22nd Infantry Regiment was appointed a special police officer by Schmitz and liaised with Greely for relief work with the 22nd Infantry and other military units involved in the emergency Ord later wrote a long letter 52 to his mother on April 20 regarding Schmitz s Shoot to Kill order and some despicable behavior of certain soldiers of the 22nd Infantry who were looting He also made it clear that the majority of soldiers served the community well 51 Aftermath Edit Evacuees leaving the city source source source source source source source source source source source source source source Film shot on April 18 1906 of the wreckage Property losses from the disaster have been estimated to be more than 400 million in 1906 dollars 6 This is equivalent to 9 23 billion in 2021 dollars An insurance industry source tallies insured losses at 235 million the equivalent to 5 42 billion in 2021 dollars 53 54 Political and business leaders strongly downplayed the effects of the earthquake fearing loss of outside investment in the city which was badly needed to rebuild 55 In his first public statement California Governor George Pardee emphasized the need to rebuild quickly This is not the first time that San Francisco has been destroyed by fire I have not the slightest doubt that the City by the Golden Gate will be speedily rebuilt and will almost before we know it resume her former great activity 56 The earthquake is not even mentioned in the statement Fatality and monetary damage estimates were manipulated 57 Almost immediately after the quake and even during the disaster planning and reconstruction plans were hatched to quickly rebuild the city Rebuilding funds were immediately tied up by the fact that virtually all the major banks had been sites of the conflagration requiring a lengthy wait of seven to ten days before their fire proof vaults could cool sufficiently to be safely opened The Bank of Italy now Bank of America had evacuated its funds and was able to provide liquidity in the immediate aftermath Its president also immediately chartered and financed the sending of two ships to return with shiploads of lumber from Washington and Oregon mills which provided the initial reconstruction materials and surge citation needed Eleven days after the earthquake a rare Sunday baseball game was played in New York City which would not allow regular Sunday baseball until 1919 between the Highlanders soon to be the Yankees and the Philadelphia Athletics to raise money for quake survivors 58 William James the pioneering American psychologist was teaching at Stanford at the time of the earthquake and traveled into San Francisco to observe first hand its aftermath He was most impressed by the positive attitude of the survivors and the speed with which they improvised services and created order out of chaos 59 This formed the basis of the chapter On some Mental Effects of the Earthquake in his book Memories and Studies 60 H G Wells had just arrived in New York on his first visit to America when he learned of the San Francisco earthquake What struck him about the reaction of those around him was that it does not seem to have affected any one with a sense of final destruction with any foreboding of irreparable disaster Every one is talking of it this afternoon and no one is in the least degree dismayed I have talked and listened in two clubs watched people in cars and in the street and one man is glad that Chinatown will be cleared out for good another s chief solicitude is for Millet s Man with a Hoe They ll cut it out of the frame he says a little anxiously Sure But there is no doubt anywhere that San Francisco can be rebuilt larger better and soon Just as there would be none at all if all this New York that has so obsessed me with its limitless bigness was itself a blazing ruin I believe these people would more than half like the situation 61 View from the Ferry Building tower southwest down on Market Street The Agassiz statue in front of the Zoology building now building 420 Stanford University Damage caused to the Summit Tunnel along the South Pacific Coast Railroad by the earthquake with the north tunnel portal in the background and Wrights California just outside of that portal Reconstruction Edit The earthquake was crucial in the development of the University of California San Francisco and its medical facilities Until 1906 the school faculty had provided care at the City County Hospital now the San Francisco General Hospital but did not have a hospital of its own Following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake more than 40 000 people were relocated to a makeshift tent city in Golden Gate Park and were treated by the faculty of the Affiliated Colleges This brought the school which until then was located on the western outskirts of the city in contact with significant population and fueled the commitment of the school towards civic responsibility and health care increasing the momentum towards the construction of its own health facilities In April 1907 one of the buildings was renovated for outpatient care with 75 beds This created the need to train nursing students and the UC Training School for Nurses was established adding a fourth professional school to the Affiliated Colleges 62 The grandeur of citywide reconstruction schemes required investment from Eastern monetary sources hence the spin and de emphasis of the earthquake the promulgation of the tough new building codes and subsequent reputation sensitive actions such as the official low death toll One of the more famous and ambitious plans came from famed urban planner Daniel Burnham His bold plan called for among other proposals Haussmann style avenues boulevards arterial thoroughfares that radiated across the city a massive civic center complex with classical structures and what would have been the largest urban park in the world stretching from Twin Peaks to Lake Merced with a large atheneum at its peak But this plan was dismissed during the aftermath of the earthquake citation needed For example real estate investors and other land owners were against the idea because of the large amount of land the city would have to purchase to realize such proposals 63 While the original street grid was restored many of Burnham s proposals inadvertently saw the light of day such as a neoclassical civic center complex wider streets a preference of arterial thoroughfares a subway under Market Street a more people friendly Fisherman s Wharf and a monument to the city on Telegraph Hill Coit Tower citation needed City fathers likewise attempted at the time to eliminate the Chinese population and export Chinatown and other poor populations to the edge of the county where the Chinese could still contribute to the local taxbase 64 The Chinese occupants had other ideas and prevailed instead Chinatown was rebuilt in the newer modern Western form that exists today The destruction of City Hall and the Hall of Records enabled thousands of Chinese immigrants to claim residency and citizenship creating a backdoor to the Chinese Exclusion Act and bring in their relatives from China 65 66 67 The earthquake was also responsible for the development of the Pacific Heights neighborhood The immense power of the earthquake had destroyed almost all of the mansions on Nob Hill except for the James C Flood Mansion Others that had not been destroyed were dynamited by the Army forces aiding the firefighting efforts in attempts to create firebreaks As one indirect result the wealthy looked westward where the land was cheap and relatively undeveloped and where there were better views Constructing new mansions without reclaiming and clearing rubble simply sped attaining new homes in the tent city during the reconstruction citation needed Reconstruction was swift and largely completed by 1915 in time for the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition which celebrated the reconstruction of the city and its rise from the ashes Since 1915 the city has officially commemorated the disaster each year by gathering the remaining survivors at Lotta s Fountain a fountain in the city s financial district that served as a meeting point during the disaster for people to look for loved ones and exchange information citation needed Housing Edit One of the eleven housing camps The Army built 5 610 redwood and fir relief houses to accommodate 20 000 displaced people The houses were designed by John McLaren and were grouped in eleven camps packed close to each other and rented to people for two dollars per month until rebuilding was completed They were painted navy blue partly to blend in with the site and partly because the military had large quantities of navy blue paint on hand The camps had a peak population of 16 448 people but by 1907 most people had moved out The camps were then re used as garages storage spaces or shops The cottages cost on average 100 to build The 2 monthly rents went towards the full purchase price of 50 Most of the shacks have been destroyed but a small number survived One of the modest 720 sq ft 67 m2 homes was purchased in 2006 for more than 600 000 68 The last official refugee camp was closed on June 30 1908 69 A 2017 study found that the fire had the effect of increasing the share of land used for nonresidential purposes Overall relative to unburned blocks residential land shares on burned blocks fell while nonresidential land shares rose by 1931 The study also provides insight into what held the city back from making these changes before 1906 the presence of old residential buildings In reconstruction developers built relatively fewer of these buildings and the majority of the reduction came through single family houses Also aside from merely expanding nonresidential uses in many neighborhoods the fire created economic opportunities in new areas resulting in clusters of business activity that emerged only in the wake of the disaster These effects of the fire still remain today and thus large shocks can be sufficient catalysts for permanently reshaping urban settings 70 Relief Edit A derailed locomotive During the first few days after news of the disaster reached the rest of the world relief efforts reached over 5 000 000 71 London raised hundreds of thousands of dollars Individual citizens and businesses donated large sums of money for the relief effort Standard Oil and Andrew Carnegie each gave 100 000 the Dominion of Canada made a special appropriation of 100 000 and even the Bank of Canada in Ottawa gave 25 000 71 The U S government quickly voted for one million dollars in relief supplies which were immediately rushed to the area including supplies for food kitchens and many thousands of tents that city dwellers would occupy the next several years 72 These relief efforts were not enough to get families on their feet again and consequently the burden was placed on wealthier members of the city who were reluctant to assist in the rebuilding of homes they were not responsible for All residents were eligible for daily meals served from a number of communal soup kitchens and citizens as far away as Idaho and Utah were known to send daily loaves of bread to San Francisco as relief supplies were coordinated by the railroads 73 Insurance payments Edit Insurance companies faced with staggering claims of 250 million 74 paid out between 235 million and 265 million on policyholders claims often for fire damage only since shake damage from earthquakes was excluded from coverage under most policies 75 76 At least 137 insurance companies were directly involved and another 17 as reinsurers 77 Twenty companies went bankrupt 76 Lloyd s of London reports having paid all claims in full more than 50 million 78 thanks to the leadership of Cuthbert Heath Insurance companies in Hartford Connecticut report paying every claim in full with the Hartford Fire Insurance Company paying over 11 million and Aetna Insurance Company almost 3 million 76 The insurance payments heavily affected the international financial system Gold transfers from European insurance companies to policyholders in San Francisco led to a rise in interest rates subsequently to a lack of available loans and finally to the Knickerbocker Trust Company crisis of October 1907 which led to the Panic of 1907 79 After the 1906 earthquake global discussion arose concerning a legally flawless exclusion of the earthquake hazard from fire insurance contracts It was pressed ahead mainly by re insurers Their aim a uniform solution to insurance payouts resulting from fires caused by earthquakes Until 1910 a few countries especially in Europe followed the call for an exclusion of the earthquake hazard from all fire insurance contracts In the U S the question was discussed differently But the traumatized public reacted with fierce opposition On August 1 1909 the California Senate enacted the California Standard Form of Fire Insurance Policy which did not contain any earthquake clause Thus the state decided that insurers would have to pay again if another earthquake was followed by fires Other earthquake endangered countries followed the California example 80 Centennial commemorations EditThe 1906 Centennial Alliance 81 was set up as a clearing house for various centennial events commemorating the earthquake Award presentations religious services a National Geographic TV movie 82 a projection of fire onto the Coit Tower 83 memorials and lectures were part of the commemorations The USGS Earthquake Hazards Program issued a series of Internet documents 84 and the tourism industry promoted the 100th anniversary as well 85 Eleven survivors of the 1906 earthquake attended the centennial commemorations in 2006 including Irma Mae Weule 1899 2008 86 who was the oldest survivor of the quake at the time of her death in August 2008 aged 109 87 Vivian Illing 1900 2009 was believed to be the second oldest survivor at the time of her death aged 108 leaving Herbert Hamrol 1903 2009 as the last known remaining survivor at the time of his death aged 106 Another survivor Libera Armstrong 1902 2007 attended the 2006 anniversary but died in 2007 aged 105 88 Shortly after Hamrol s death two additional survivors were discovered William Del Monte then 103 and Jeanette Scola Trapani 1902 2009 89 106 stated that they stopped attending events commemorating the earthquake when it became too much trouble for them 90 Del Monte and another survivor Rose Cliver 1902 2012 then 106 attended the earthquake reunion celebration on April 18 2009 the 103rd anniversary of the earthquake 91 Nancy Stoner Sage 1905 2010 died aged 105 in Colorado just three days short of the 104th anniversary of the earthquake on April 18 2010 Del Monte attended the event at Lotta s Fountain in 2010 92 107 year old George Quilici 1905 2012 died in May 2012 93 and 113 year old Ruth Newman 1901 2015 in July 2015 94 William Del Monte 1906 2016 who died 11 days shy of his 110th birthday was thought to be the last survivor 95 In 2005 the National Film Registry added San Francisco Earthquake and Fire April 18 1906 a newsreel documentary made soon after the earthquake to its list of American films worthy of preservation 96 Panoramas Edit San Francisco burning view from St Francis Hotel at Union Square Copyright Pillsbury Pictures 18 April 1906 97 Geary Street is in center terminating at Market Street The San Francisco Call s domed Call Building is right center at Newspaper Row Its wood interior burned but its steel concrete and stone frame survived San Francisco from Twin Peaks looking down at Eureka Valley with Market Street center foreground leading towards the now previous City Hall dome ruins on left and The San Francisco Call s domed Call Building on right center background circa April 18 21 1906 San Francisco 160 degree panorama from Nob Hill showing Telegraph Hill Yerba Buena Island Ferry Building tower Fairmont Hotel The San Francisco Call s domed Call Building Potrero Hill San Bruno Mountain Twin Peaks showing damage Copyright Kilborn amp Burn 31 May 1906 98 99 Panoramic view of earthquake and fire damage looking from Stanford Mansion site Nob Hill April 18 21 1906 Note from left to right 1 Yerba Buena Island 2 Grace Cathedral 20 the ruins of the now previous City Hall dome at far right 100 San Francisco in ruins waterfront in foreground with sunset over Golden Gate in background looking from 2 000 feet 610 m above San Francisco Bay by George R Lawrence using kite aerial photography copyright 28 May 1906 Market Street leads directly away from Ferry Building tower center foreground towards Twin Peaks center left background 101 102 103 In popular culture EditWill Irwin The City That Was a series of 1906 articles for The Sun in New York City and later as a booklet 104 105 106 The earthquake is shown towards the end of MGM s 1936 film San Francisco The earthquake is a major event in Tony Kushner s play Angels in America 107 The earthquake is depicted near the beginning of the 1932 film Frisco Jenny See also Edit San Francisco Bay Area portal California portal Earth sciences portalArnold Genthe earthquake photographer George R Lawrence earthquake photographer Committee of Fifty 1906 Earthquake engineering List of earthquakes in 1906 List of earthquakes in California List of earthquakes in the United States List of disasters in the United States by death toll List of firesNotes Edit a b Where Can I Learn More About the 1906 Earthquake Berkeley Seismological Laboratory January 28 2008 Archived from the original on March 27 2008 a b c Location of the Focal Region and Hypocenter of the California Earthquake of April 18 1906 alomax free fr a b Segall P Lisowski M 1990 Surface Displacements in the 1906 San Francisco and 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquakes Science 250 4985 1241 4 Bibcode 1990Sci 250 1241S doi 10 1126 science 250 4985 1241 PMID 17829210 S2CID 23913195 Stover C W Coffman J L 1993 Seismicity of the United States 1568 1989 Revised U S Geological Survey professional paper 1527 United States Government Printing Office p 75 Geist E L Zoback M L 1999 Analysis of the tsunami generated by the Mw 7 8 1906 San Francisco earthquake Geology 27 1 15 18 Bibcode 1999Geo 27 15G doi 10 1130 0091 7613 1999 027 lt 0015 aottgb gt 2 3 co 2 a b USGS Casualties and damage after the 1906 Earthquake United States Geological Survey 1906 San Francisco Quake How large was the offset Archived December 22 2016 at the Wayback Machine USGS Earthquake Hazards Program Northern California Retrieved September 3 2016 a b Thatcher Wayne December 10 1975 Strain accumulation and release mechanism of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake Journal of Geophysical Research 80 35 4862 4872 Bibcode 1975JGR 80 4862T doi 10 1029 JB080i035p04862 1906 Earthquake How long was the 1906 Crack Archived October 6 2008 at the Wayback Machine USGS Earthquake Hazards Program Northern California Retrieved September 3 2006 Christine Gibson Archived December 5 2010 at the Wayback Machine Our 10 Greatest Natural Disasters American Heritage Aug Sept 2006 Westaway R 2002 Seasonal Seismicity of Northern California Before the Great 1906 Earthquake Pure and Applied Geophysics 159 1 3 7 62 Bibcode 2002PApGe 159 7W doi 10 1007 PL00001268 Tsunami Record from the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake United States Geological Survey 2008 Song S G Beroza G C Segall P 2008 A Unified Source Model for the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake PDF Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 98 2 823 831 Bibcode 2008BuSSA 98 823S doi 10 1785 0120060402 How Scientists Used a 1906 Photo to Find the Center of San Francisco s Most Infamous Earthquake Gizmodo January 30 2019 California Geological Survey Seismic Hazards Zonation Program Seismic Hazards Mapping regulations Archived from the original on July 27 2015 Retrieved January 18 2009 a b Meltzner A J Wald D J 2003 Aftershocks and Triggered Events of the Great 1906 California Earthquake PDF Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 93 5 2160 2186 Bibcode 2003BuSSA 93 2160M doi 10 1785 0120020033 S2CID 128704816 a b Over 500 Dead 200 000 000 lost in San Francisco Earthquake All San Francisco May Burn The New York Times April 19 1906 p 1 William Bronson The Earth Shook The Sky Burned San Francisco Chronicle Books 1996 Casualties and Damage after the 1906 earthquake USGS Earthquake Hazards Program Northern California Retrieved September 4 2006 Gladys C Hansen Emmet Condon David Fowler 1989 Denial of Disaster Cameron and Company ISBN 978 0 918684 33 2 Displays at the U S Army Corps of Engineers Museum in Sausalito California Klein Barbara J The Carmel Monterey Peninsula Art Colony A History Traditional Fine Arts Organization Archived from the original on August 27 2009 Retrieved August 1 2009 Lawson Andrew Cowper Reid Harry Fielding 1908 The California Earthquake of April 18 1906 Report of the State Earthquake Investigation Commission Carnegie Institution of Washington pp 25 A Dreadful Catastrophe Visits Santa Rosa Press Democrat Santa Rosa California April 19 1906 Retrieved February 23 2015 Sta Rosa i e Santa Rosa Courthouse content cdlib org The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire content cdlib org Over 500 Dead 200 000 000 Lost in San Francisco Earthquake The New York Times April 18 1906 Retrieved April 19 2008 Earthquake and fire today have put nearly half of San Francisco in ruins About 500 persons have been killed a thousand injured and the property loss will exceed 200 000 000 100th Anniversary 1906 San Francisco Earthquake Conference www 1906eqconf org The Great 1906 Earthquake amp Fires of San Francisco Archived from the original on February 4 2014 Retrieved February 3 2014 Johnston Louis Williamson Samuel H 2023 What Was the U S GDP Then MeasuringWorth Retrieved January 1 2023 United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the Measuring Worth series View of fires including Ham and Eggs fire right center looking east along Fell St City Hall center calisphere 1906 Retrieved January 1 2023 DRC7201 the prevention of natural disasters PDF authors library caltech edu Retrieved January 1 2023 Ham and Eggs fire Hayes between Franklin and Gough Started because a woman insisted on getting breakfast for her husband 34 oac cdlib org Retrieved January 1 2023 The Dangers of Cooking After a Quake The Ham and Eggs Fire hoodline April 18 2013 Retrieved January 1 2023 Earthquake Fires California Fire Prevention Organization Retrieved January 1 2023 Earthquake Fire San Francisco April 1906 Popular Mechanics July 30 2007 Retrieved January 1 2023 The Old Bay Margins Northern California Geological Society Retrieved January 1 2023 Boehm Lisa Krissoff 2007 The Great San Francisco Earthquake One of America s Worst Urban Disasters review Film amp History An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies 37 1 87 88 doi 10 1353 flm 2007 0003 Retrieved January 1 2023 Ham and Eggs Fire Silver Twin Hydrant Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association April 18 2015 Retrieved January 1 2023 Bhalerao Camille May 9 2021 1906 San Francisco Earthquake Facts amp Lessons Blog Jumpstart insurance Retrieved January 1 2023 Charles Scawthorn John Eidinger Anshel Schiff eds 2005 Fire Following Earthquake Reston Virginia ASCE NFPA ISBN 9780784407394 Archived from the original on September 28 2013 NPS Signal Corps History 1906 Earthquake Arson Fires www sfmuseum org NY Times Obituary for Heinrich Conrad April 27 1909 PDF Alice Eastwood The Coniferae of the Santa Lucia Mountains Double Cone Quarterly Fall Equinox volume VII Number 3 2004 The Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry PDF California Bear Flag 1846 www sfmuseum org Nash Jay Robert Darkest Hours p 492 Mayor Eugene Schmitz s Famed Shoot to Kill Order Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco Archived from the original on August 23 2006 Retrieved September 3 2006 a b Looting Claims Against the U S Army Following the 1906 Earthquake Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco Archived from the original on March 28 2008 Retrieved March 26 2008 Variouswork Georgetown University Libraries Special Collections 2006 Ord Family Papers Georgetown University Library 37th and N Streets N W Washington D C 20057 Archived from the original on June 14 2010 Retrieved October 7 2009 1634 1699 McCusker J J 1997 How Much Is That in Real Money A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States Addenda et Corrigenda PDF American Antiquarian Society 1700 1799 McCusker J J 1992 How Much Is That in Real Money A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States PDF American Antiquarian Society 1800 present Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Consumer Price Index estimate 1800 Retrieved April 16 2022 Brady Matt 1906 Quake Shook Up Insurance Industry Worldwide National Underwriter P amp C New York April 18 2006 12 16 Print The Great San Francisco Earthquake amp Fires of 1906 The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake Web February 16 2015 San Francisco History Archived September 24 2015 at the Wayback Machine The New San Francisco Magazine May 1906 The Great Earthquake and Firestorms of 1906 Archived June 9 2007 at the Wayback Machine Philip L Fradkin Baseball in the Garden of Eden The Secret History of the Early Game John Thorn Simon amp Schuster Paperbacks 2011 Johann Hari March 18 2011 The Myth of the Panicking Disaster Victim HuffPost Retrieved April 3 2011 James William 1911 Memories and studies Longmans Green pp 209 ISBN 9780722220276 Retrieved April 3 2011 H G Wells The Future in America A Search after Realities New York and London Harper and Brothers 1906 pp 41 42 1868 1898 Introduction A History of UCSF history library ucsf edu Blackford Mansel 1993 The Lost Dream Business and City Planning on the Pacific Coast 1890 1920 Columbus Ohio State UP p 51 ISBN 978 0 8142 0589 1 Hansen Gladys March 2014 Relocation of Chinatown Following the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco Museum of the City of San Francisco Retrieved February 14 2015 Strupp Christoph July 19 2006 Dealing with Disaster The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 via escholarship org a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906 Its Effects on Chinatown Chinese Historical Society of America Retrieved December 2 2006 The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Archived September 30 2007 at the Wayback Machine Niderost Eric American History April 2006 Retrieved December 2 2006 Reality Times Archived April 28 2007 at the Wayback Machine 1906 San Francisco Earthquake Housing Is Valuable Piece Of History by Blanche Evans Fradkin Philip L The Great Earthquake and Firestorms of 1906 How San Francisco Nearly Destroyed Itself Berkeley University of California 2005 Print p 225 Siodla James 2017 Clean slate Land use changes in San Francisco after the 1906 disaster Explorations in Economic History 65 1 doi 10 1016 j eeh 2017 04 001 a b Morris Charles ed The San Francisco Calamity by Earthquake and Fire Intro by Roger W Lotchin Philadelphia J C Winston Co 1906 Urbana University of Illinois Press 2002 Strupp Christoph July 19 2006 Dealing with Disaster The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 escholarship org Institute of European Studies Retrieved February 23 2015 Greeley A W April 18 1906 Earthquake in California Washington Government Print Office The New York Herald European Edition of April 21 1906 p 2 R K Mackenzie The San Francisco earthquake amp conflagration Typoscript Bancroft Library Berkeley 1907 a b c Aetna At A Glance Aetna History Archived December 8 2006 at the Wayback Machine Aetna company information For a list of these companies see Tilmann Roder From Industrial to Legal Standardization 1871 1914 Transnational Insurance Law and the Great San Francisco Earthquake Brill Academic Publishers 2011 The role of Lloyd s in the reconstruction Archived July 8 2007 at the Wayback Machine Lloyd s of London Retrieved December 6 2006 Kerry A Odell and Marc D Weidenmier Real Shock Monetary Aftershock The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and the Panic of 1907 The Journal of Economic History 2005 vol 64 issue 04 p 1002 1027 See T Roder From Industrial to Legal Standardization 1871 1914 Transnational Insurance Law and the Great San Francisco Earthquake Brill Academic Publishers 2011 and The Roots of the New Law Merchant How the international standardization of contracts and clauses changed business law Archived April 22 2008 at the Wayback Machine 1906 Centennial Alliance National Geographic TV Shows Specials amp Documentaries National Geographic Channel Archived from the original on April 15 2006 projection of fire onto the Coit Tower Archived January 11 2006 at archive today series of Internet documents Travel News www consumeraffairs com Archived from the original on April 26 2006 Security Alert genealogy about com Retrieved July 6 2014 permanent dead link Nolte August 16 2008 1906 earthquake survivor Irma Mae Weule dies San Francisco Chronicle Archived from the original on September 20 2008 Retrieved August 17 2008 Libera Era Armstrong 1902 2007 Hayward California ancientfaces com Retrieved July 6 2014 Jeanette Trapani obituary December 31 2009 Retrieved January 2 2010 1 San Francisco Chronicle 2009 02 07 Calling any 06 San Francisco quake survivors SF remembers great quake on 103rd anniversary The San Francisco Chronicle Archived from the original on July 21 2009 Retrieved June 24 2009 Nolte Carl April 19 2010 Hundreds gather to honor victims of 06 quake SFGATE George Frank Quilici Obituary Santa Cruz Sentinel Ruth Newman a Survivor of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake Dies at 113 The New York Times Associated Press September 2 2015 Bender Kristen J January 11 2016 Last survivor of 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire dies at 109 U S News amp World Report Associated Press Archived from the original on July 6 2017 Librarian of Congress Adds 25 Films to National Film Registry Library of Congress December 20 2005 Archived from the original on August 9 2009 Retrieved July 22 2009 The burning of San Francisco April 18 19 06 view from St Francis Hotel Library of Congress 1906 Panorama of San Francisco disaster Library of Congress 1906 Panorama of San Francisco disaster Library of Congress 1906 Ruins of San Francisco after earthquake and fire April 18 21 1906 view from Stanford Mansion site Library of Congress 1906 Photograph of San Francisco in ruins from Lawrence Captive Airship 2000 feet above San Francisco Bay overlooking water front Sunset over Golden Gat e Library of Congress 1906 Petterchak Janice A 2002 Photography Genius George R Lawrence amp The Hitherto Impossible PDF Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society Summer 2002 132 147 Archived from the original PDF on September 5 2008 Retrieved March 20 2009 The Lawrence Captive Airship over San Francisco Archived from the original on September 28 2006 Will Irwin The City That Was A Requiem of Old San Francisco from newspaper gutenberg org free download Will Irwin The City That Was A Requiem of Old San Francisco 1906 New York B W Huebsch Ann Arbor Michigan University of Michigan Library 47 p OCLC 671922810 free download review Angels in America Symbols SparkNotes References EditDouble Cone Quarterly Fall Equinox volume VII Number 3 2004 American Society of Civil Engineers 1907 Transactions Paper No 1056 The Effects of the San Francisco Earthquake of April 18th 1906 on Engineering Constructions Reports Of A General Committee And Of Six Special Committees Of The San Francisco Association Of Members Of The American Society Of Civil Engineers Retrieved August 15 2009 Greely Adolphus W 1906 Earthquake in California April 18 1906 Special Report on the Relief Operations Conducted by the Military Authorities Washington Government Printing Office Retrieved August 15 2009 Gilbert Grove Karl Richard Lewis Humphrey John Stephen Sewell amp Frank Soule 1907 The San Francisco Earthquake And Fire of April 18th 1906 And Their Effects On Structures And Structural Materials Washington Government Printing Office Retrieved August 15 2009 The San Francisco Earthquake And Fire A Presentation of Facts And Resulting New York The Roebling Construction Company 1906 Retrieved August 15 2009 Jordan David Starr John Casper Branner Charles Derleth Jr Stephen Taber F Omari Harold W Fairbanks Mary Hunter Austin 1907 The California Earthquake of 1906 San Francisco A M Robertson Retrieved August 15 2009 Mining And Scientific Press T A Rickard G K Gilbert S B Christy et al 1907 After Earthquake And Fire A Reprint Of The Articles And Editorial Comment Appearing In The Mining And Scientific Press San Francisco Mining And Scientific Press Retrieved August 15 2009 Russell Sage Foundation Charles J O Connor Francis H McLean Helen Swett Artieda James Marvin Motley Jessica Peixotto Mary Roberts Coolidge 1907 San Francisco Relief Survey The Organization And Methods Of Relief Used After The Earthquake And Fire Of April 18 1906 Survey Associates Inc New York Wm F Fell Co Philadelphia Retrieved August 15 2009 Schussler Hermann 1907 The Water Supply Of San Francisco California Before During And After The Earthquake of April 18 1906 and the Subsequent Conflagration New York Martin B Brown Press Retrieved August 15 2009 Tyler Sydney Harry Fielding Reid 1908 The California Earthquake of April 18 1906 Report of the State Earthquake Investigation Commission Volume one Washington D C The Carnegie Institution of Washington Tyler Sydney Harry Fielding Reid 1910 The California Earthquake of April 18 1906 Report of the State Earthquake Investigation Commission Volume two Washington D C The Carnegie Institution of Washington Wald David J Kanamori Hiroo Helmberger Donald V Heaton Thomas H 1993 Source study of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America Seismological Society of America 83 4 981 1019 Bibcode 1993BuSSA 83 981W doi 10 1785 BSSA0830040981 S2CID 129739379 archived from the original on January 9 2009 Winchester Simon A Crack in the Edge of the World America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 HarperCollins Publishers New York 2005 ISBN 0 06 057199 3 Bronson William 1959 The Earth Shook the Sky Burned Doubleday Contemporary disaster accountsAitken Frank W Edward Hilton 1906 A History of the Earthquake And Fire in San Francisco San Francisco The Edward Hilton Co Retrieved August 15 2009 Banks Charles Eugene Opie Percival Read 1906 The History of the San Francisco Disaster And Mount Vesuvius Horror C E Thomas Retrieved August 15 2009 Givens John David Opie Percival Read 1906 San Francisco in Ruins A Pictorial History San Francisco Leon C Osteyee Retrieved August 15 2009 Keeler Charles 1906 San Francisco Through Earthquake And Fire San Francisco Paul Elder And Company Retrieved August 15 2009 London Jack The Story of An Eyewitness London s report from the scene Originally published in Collier s Magazine May 5 1906 Morris Charles 1906 The San Francisco Calamity By Earthquake And Fire J C Winston Company ISBN 9780806509846 Retrieved August 15 2009 Tyler Sydney Ralph Stockman Tarr 1908 San Francisco s Great Disaster Philadelphia P W Ziegler Co Retrieved August 15 2009 White Trumbull Richard Linthicum 1906 Complete Story of the San Francisco Horror Hubert D Russell Retrieved August 15 2009 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to San Francisco earthquake of 1906 The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake Archived February 11 2017 at the Wayback Machine United States Geological Survey 1906 San Francisco earthquake at Curlie The 1906 Earthquake and Fire National Archives Before and After the Great Earthquake and Fire Early Films of San Francisco 1897 1916 American Memory at the Library of Congress A geologic tour of the San Francisco earthquake 100 years later American Geological Institute The Great 1906 Earthquake and Fire Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco website The Great 1906 Earthquake and Fire Bancroft Library Mark Twain and the San Francisco Earthquake Shapell Manuscript Foundation Several videos of the aftermath Internet Archive San Francisco Earthquake and Fire April 18 1906 Seismographs of the earthquake taken from the Lick Observatory from the Lick Observatory Records Digital Archive UC Santa Cruz Library s Digital Collections Archived June 11 2015 at the Wayback Machine Timeline of the San Francisco Earthquake April 18 23 1906 The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco JB Monaco Photography Photographic account of earthquake and fire aftermath from well known North Beach photographer Tsunami Record from the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake USGS The International Seismological Centre has a bibliography and or authoritative data for this event Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1906 San Francisco earthquake amp oldid 1133930913, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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