The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of April 18, 1906

Official reporting on The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.

“Unless future earthquakes are very much more severe than any that have occurred, there is no reason why the rebuilding of San Francisco should not be a successful commercial enterprise. It seems highly improbable that there will ever be earthquakes more severe than that of April 18, 1906. There is no doubt that the city can be rebuilt so that, although it will suffer damage from future earthquakes, this damage will not be at all fatal, and the city will not burn up as a result of it.” [pg. 116-117]

The 1906 San Francisco earthquake is one of the deadliest (and costliest) natural disasters to ever hit the United States. The quake, with an estimated magnitude of 7.9, hit in the early hours of April 18th and started fires that killed over 3,000 people and consumed nearly 80% of the city over a period of several days. Nearly 300,000 people were left homeless from a population of just over 400,000 and estimates of damage costs exceeded half a billion dollars. Needless to say, there was an impetus for state and federal officials to try to avoid such devastating consequences in the future.

This report, compiled by the United States Geological Survey and published by the Government Printing Office, is the results of those efforts, which began before the fires had been completely extinguished. The 170+ pages contain assessments of structural damage, effects of the fire, recommendations for future construction, and dozens of plates capturing the destruction. Several fold-out maps and views are also included, with one particularly engrossing image that highlights the vast extent of the devastation in bright red.

Source: U.S.G.S.