April 18, 2007

April 18, 1906

At 5:12 A.M. on April 18, 1906, an 8.3 magnitude earthquake struck San Francisco . With thousands of un-reinforced brick buildings and closely-spaced wooden Victorian dwellings, the city was poorly prepared for the quake. Collapsed buildings, broken chimneys, and a shortage of water due to broken mains led to several large fires that soon coalesced into a city-wide holocaust. The fire raged for three days, sweeping over nearly a quarter of the city, including the entire downtown area.

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Over 3,000 people are estimated to have died as a result of the disaster. For those who survived, the first few weeks were hard; as aid poured in from around the country, thousands slept in tents in city parks, and citizens were asked to do their cooking in the street. A severe shortage of public transportation made a taxicab out of anything on wheels. Numerous businesses relocated temporarily to Oakland, and many refugees found lodgings outside the city. Most of the cities of central California were badly damaged. However, reconstruction proceeded at a furious pace, and by 1908, San Francisco was well on the way to recovery. [...]

Additional information from the USGS about the quake and its aftermath can be found here.

On the USGS site, it notes the estimated combined property value of the loss due to both fire and earthquake was 400,000,000 1906 dollars. That would have an equivalent purchasing power in current dollars of approximately $9,247,706,422. An interesting bit of information can also be found here, regarding Senate debate on the manner and amount of aid to be rendered by the Federal government to San Francisco.

Posted by Terry Oglesby at April 18, 2007 11:03 AM
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