The 1906 San Francisco Earth Quake

San Francisco before the Earth Quake

1849, James Marshall discovered gold dust in a Sierra saw mill and San Francisco became the entrance port to the famed "El Dorado," the legendary land of gold in the West. ( The Gold rush)

Eventually Silver was found in 1858. It became a center of maritime trade,  Came to be known as “ the Paris of the

West”

San Francisco’s Location

The Earthquake Occurred : April 18, 1906 , 5:12 a.m. Magnitude: 7.7–7.9, lasted about one minute Occurred due to the movement of the Pacific and the

North American plate.( San Andreas Fault- a transform plate boundary).

The Consequences The epicenter was about 2 miles out to sea just off of a

place called Mussel Rock. With San Francisco being right on the bay and being near Mussel Rock, it took most of the blow.

How much of the San Andreas fault did the quake effect?

- 300 miles. The quake affected an area about 300 miles to the north and south of San Francisco. It was felt as far north as Oregon and as far south as Los Angeles. Even central Nevada felt part of the quake. In some places, the ground opened up leaving a large gap.

A huge fire broke out , because of arson, natural gas( gas pipe leakages) and dynamite.

Water and gas mains broke. Because the water mains were broken, the fires could not be fought. They grew out of control and burned for three days.

Social Turmoil The earthquake and fires killed an estimated

more than 3,000 people and left half of the city's 400,000 residents homeless. 

The survivors slept in tents in city parks and the Presidio (fortress), stood in long lines for food,

discrimination forced Chinese–American refugees to be shuffled from camp to camp: first from Van Ness to the Presidio, and then to Fort Point.

Economic Issues fires destroyed about 28,000 buildings and 500

blocks – ¼ of San Francisco. San Francisco received approximately $9

million in relief from individuals, cities, states, the federal government, and other countries.

The damages were estimated at about $400,000,000 in 1906 dollars, which would translate to about $8.2 billion today.

the Army – which ran 21 official refugee camps – distributed food, clothing, and other necessities to quake victims.

The Call building

Political Congress responded to the disaster in several ways. The House and the Senate Appropriations Committees

enacted emergency appropriations for the city to pay for food, water, tents, blankets, and medical supplies in the weeks following the earthquake and fire.

They also appropriated funds to reconstruct many of the public buildings that were damaged or destroyed.

damage to the water supply system in 1906 gave momentum to the construction of the largest high-pressure water distribution network ever built—San Francisco’s Auxiliary Water Supply System (AWSS).

Emphasizing on the study of Earthquakes , “The Seismological Society of America” was founded in 1906.