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Kesiah Patil Stine/Allen LA Stretch 20 December 2013 The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake It started on a clear spring morning, and no one suspected a thing. The world seemed peaceful and quiet. There was no sign of danger on April 18, 1906 at 5:12. However, in a matter of minutes, half of the city would be burning as people struggled trying to get out of their homes and flee to safety (Tanaka+Craig 13). The San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906, caused great physical damage, financial costs, was a huge struggle for those helping, and affected the lives of thousands of San Francisco residents To explain from the beginning, the geography of earthquakes are caused by plates that the earth moves known as faults. San Francisco and most of California is on a fault that actually moves into North America. The fault moved a lot that day causing the ground to shift and buildings in San Francisco collapsed (San Francisco Earthquake). The earthquake was significant from Southern Oregon to Los Angeles and could be felt as far inland as central Nevada (The Great 1906). The physical damage of the earthquake affected a huge population of people, and not just San Francisco. In 1906, the efforts of firefighters and anyone else rushing to help were no match for the intense flames. Over the years, San Francisco and its firefighters were used to having small short earthquakes a few times a year. However, no one had ever experienced anything like this before. This would come to be one of the United States

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biggest natural disasters ever recorded in history (Tanaka+Craig 13). These fires couldnt be put out despite the struggle of the firefighters. Many of them were unprepared for the conditions they were facing, and with so many blazing fires to put out, there were also people to save. Eventually, they began to run out of water and hoses to hook up to. They started hooking hoses up to sewage pipes in desperation to put out all the fires (Tanaka+Craig 16). Firefighters were neither ready nor equipped for the situation at hand. Although the response to the situation was quick, all were totally unprepared. How could they be? Under such conditions, its no wonder most help was unsuccessful. The pipes underneath the city of San Francisco had ruptured and burst. The police and fire department were having the hardest time. The people that rushed to help were not expecting this (The Great 1906). Not only did the fire put a strain on the people helping; the San Francisco fire affected the lives of the citizens. It left over 20,000 people homeless, and nearly all of them broke with no belongings but the clothes on their backs. Camps were set up in places like the Golden Gate Park, and the citys refugees camped in tents on the outskirts or in safe parks. The living conditions were poor. They had to wait in line for small rations of food, there wasn't much water, and many people stole from one another (Tanaka+Craig 27). It was a difficult time for many people, as family members died and they were in tents outside with the terrible view of watching their homes and city burn. Many of them lost hope, and some even thought it was the end of the world. Jack London, an eyewitness wrote: Not in history has a modern imperial city been so completely destroyed.

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San Francisco is gone. Nothing remains of it but memories and a fringe of dwelling houses on its outskirts (London) (Earthquakes San Francisco.) San Francisco's own citizens were devastated by the fire and earthquake. In addition, the economical damage was devastating. The repairs for San Francisco were extremely numerous, and it cost millions to repair everything that was destroyed in both the fire and earthquake. Nearly 30 city blocks were engulfed in flames and destroyed. The town hall was reduced to a frame of metal that eventually had to be torn down and rebuilt. It didnt reopen until 1915 (The Great 1906). The Damage of the earthquake and fire estimated around $400 million, which is over $8 billion in modern money (Tanaka+Craig 40). Experts say that if an earthquake like that were to happen again, the cost of repairing damage would reach hundreds of billions (San Francisco Earthquake). The amount of damage caused by the earthquake would hurt the economy of the city for many years. So in conclusion, you can see the earthquake and fire of 1906 San Francisco was devastating to the people and firefighters, caused lots of damage, and cost a lot in repairs. The struggles that the fires and earthquake caused would forever be remembered by historians, and the people of San Francisco.

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Works Cited "Earthquakes San Francisco Forces of Nature--Science, Maps, Photos, Video (National Geographic)."Earthquakes-San Francisco-Forces of Nature. National Geographic, n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. "The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake." The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2013. "San Francisco Earthquake, 1906." San Francisco Earthquake, 1906. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. Tanaka, Shelley, and David Craig. Earthquake!: On a Peaceful Spring Morning Disaster Strikes San Francisco. New York: Hyperion for Children, 2004.