The San Francisco Earthquake on April 18, 1906, is considered one of the most monumental earthquakes in history. This was one of the most important earthquakes in history because it greatly helped geologists and seismologists understand why and how earthquakes behave the way they do.
At almost 5:12 AM, a foreshock occurred with such force that it was felt throughout most of the bay area. The giant earthquake happened about 20-25 seconds after, with an epicenter near San Francisco. San Francisco is one of the worst cities to experience earthquakes because of how unstable the ground is. Most of San Francisco is built on landfill, which is where sand is poured into lengths of water to create semi-solid ground for development.
This earthquake ripped through the city with such force that it crippled the city's firefighting implementations. Water pressure was so low that it had to be gathered from the bay and thrown onto fires manually, which was extremely slow and inefficient, and thus caused the spread of fire, resulting in about a third of San Francisco burning.
Fun Facts:
- It took a total of nine years to rebuild the city essentially from scratch.
- It was one of the first natural disasters to be photographed.
- Liquor and alcohol were destroyed by city officials trying to prevent the spread of fire.
San Francisco burning:
Congratulations on the long running segment Misfortunate Monday. I always look forward to what your post will be. Earthquakes are awful!
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