On April 18, 1906, an 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit the San Francisco Bay Area. The city was devastated, more than 3000 people were killed and over 80% of the city was destroyed. Shaking from the quake was felt from Oregon to Los Angeles and as far inland as central Nevada. Amazingly, just four days before, a ride down Market Street was recorded showing a busy, vibrant downtown. No-one could have known of the devastation to come. Fences, roads, and even buildings were offset as much as 20 feet in seconds.
Beyond the physical and human cost, almost 75% of the entire city population were left homeless. What many forget is that it was the subsequent fires in the city that caused even more damage. Fires burned for days, accounting for over 80% of the total destruction. The damage in today’s dollars was about $10 billion.
But the resilience of the citizens was clear – their “we will rebuild” optimism was prevalent, and the reconstruction led to new neighborhoods and buildings that stand today. Some of us at AHP experienced the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and, while the damage was nothing like the 1906 quake, we witnessed people coming together in the same spirit to help the region recover. Natural disasters and national catastrophes tend to bring out the best in us and it did 119 years ago today.
