1906 San Francisco Earthquake - Report Example

1906 San Francisco Earthquake This paper talks about the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake and its tragic aftermath. No one in San Francisco city on the day of April18th, 1906 could have imagined that their lives would be changed forever after the earthquake hit them. The paper tries to assimilate all the facts about that natural disaster which befell the people of San Francisco and bring to the reader a comprehensive picture of the events of that day. Myths and fictional attributes have been sifted leaving only the true images of the occurrences of April18th1906 and it is to be hoped that the reader can grasp the true picture of the horrific disaster from the facts given. Many eyewitness accounts have been referred to and from them it is easy to see why the 1906 San Francisco earthquake has been referred to as the biggest natural disaster more than comparable to Hurricane Katrina, which shook USA in the recent past. I have heard the 1906 San Francisco earthquake variously described as The Great Quake and Fire, The Great Shake and The Great San Francisco Earthquake- whatever the names might be, the fact remains that the worst-ever natural disaster to hit a segment of the human population on that fateful day of April18th is forever etched in our memories whether through hearsay or the media or books or pictures. Nothing said or done can lessen that horrific sequence of events which unfolded that morning when people were literally caught ‘napping’ in the wee hours of the morning at around 5.13 A. M. Those who felt the foreshock would have had no idea that devastating tremors would follow immediately and hundreds of lives would be lost, thousands would be rendered homeless and the whole city would be caught up in massive fires due to broken gas lines and stoves. No help would be forthcoming initially because the water mains would also be broken and the whole city would be like in a state of siege. Scientists may place the magnitude of the earthquake at 7.7 to 7.9 on the Richter scale or even higher at 8.3 according to the analysis made by more advanced equipment available now but eventual analyses become inconsequential in the wake of destruction of such ferocity. (Wald, Hiroo, Helmberger and Heaton) More than half of San Francisco’s population was left without a home by the earthquake and the fires that followed and 28000 buildings had been destroyed and approximately3000 people died. In the aftermath of the horror, massive planning and reconstruction took place and the people of San Francisco slowly picked up the shattered pieces of their lives and set about returning to normal. (“Timeline of the San Francisco Earthquake”) In cold facts, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake took place on the 18th of April, 1906 at around 5.13 A.M jolting people out of their morning slumber and immediately after the foreshock at that time, the quake hit with devastating ferocity within 20-30 seconds at around 5.15A.M. Before people could realize what was happening, huge buildings were crashing down like pack of cards, people were being crushed underneath the falling debris, the asphalt on the roads was buckling and piling up and gas lines and water mains had burst open. Raging fires engulfed the city and people were helpless in the face of nature’s fury. I have read that the epicenter was near the city and for this reason the entire city was rocked by tremors. Though the quake lasted for only about 40 to 60 seconds, it destroyed the city beyond recognition besides taking unlimited toll on its people. The first natural disaster to be recorded by photography the pictures bring alive the horrors of that terrible day. (“Over 500 Dead, $200,000,000 Lost in San Francisco Earthquake”) The earthquake had ruptured about 290 miles of the earth’s surface along the San Andreas Fault, which stretched form the northwest of San Juan Bautista to the triple junction at Cape Mendocino. Though the quake hit San Francisco the most (and in major part it was due to the fires) the shocks were felt all the way from Oregon to Los Angeles and inland as far as central Nevada. As I discovered after reading one eyewitness’s account that streets had sunk three or four feet and street car tracks were twisted and bent out of shape. Streets were covered by brick and mortar and buildings were either totally destroyed or the brick fronts had simply come off. There were wagons with horses tied to them and drivers all dead struck by falling stones and bricks. These unfortunate people were mainly the produce dealers whose work is done in the early hours of the morning. There were bizarre sights of buildings shifted bodily two or three feet out of line yet still standing with cracked walls. Some of the stories of eyewitnesses brought home the horrors of the earthquake and I was deeply distressed upon reading such graphic details like the people found themselves reeling and staggering as the earth heaved and swayed and threw them flat on the ground, many of them to be crushed to their deaths. Big buildings tumbled down with mighty roars and people got crushed as if they were ants. Stones were falling thick and fast, the earth was simply swallowing up animals and people and there was utter pandemonium and bedlam making it like hell on earth. As destructive as the earthquake and its after shocks were, more devastation occurred later due to the uncontrolled fires raging through the city. An approximate estimation puts the blame of almost 90% of the destruction on the resulting fires. Above 30 fires that were caused by broken gas lines led to a massacre of nearly 25000 houses spread over 490 blocks in the city. Many fires were unwittingly started when firemen untrained in the use of dynamite tried to dynamite buildings to create fire breaks but ended up in destroying more than half of the buildings which might have otherwise survived. Often the detonations set the ruins ablaze or helped spread the fire. The chief of the fire staff who may have been able to guide had been killed in the quake itself and to compound the problem, the water mains had also got broken in the quake. Without water and without a responsible person to monitor the operations it took three days before the fires could be brought under control. (“Timeline of the San Francisco Earthquake”; Mackenzie) The most chilling eyewitness account, which I have come across, describes one incident where a man had been pinned down in the wreck of the raging fire. The man was helpless to do anything and watched in silence until the fire began to burn his feet. Then he begged to be killed which a policeman did by shooting him through the head after noting down the man’s name and address. Another similar heart-wrenching incident I read was when the Windsor Hotel at Fifth and Market Streets caught fire and three men were impossibly trapped on the roof. To save the men from being roasted alive in that inferno, a military officer gave directions to his men to shoot them down which was done in the horrific presence of about 5000 people. As the fires raged and ravaged and the city’s water system collapsed, survivors gathered wherever they hoped to get some water. Victims huddled together under the open sky while all round them the fires continued unabated. I have also come across reports suggesting that homeowners deliberately started many of the fires because San Francisco insurance policies covered fires but not earthquakes. Captain Leonard D. Wildman of the U.S. Army Signal Corps admitted that he "was stopped by a fireman who told me that people in that neighborhood were firing their houses... They were told that they would not get their insurance on buildings damaged by the earthquake unless they were damaged by fire." (The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco, Memorandum) The fires also could not be tamed because of water lines being broken and this left the fire department fewer resources to control the fire. Many fires merged together to become one giant inferno and spread fro Van Ness Avenue, which bisects the center of the city to the San Francisco Bay docks. One landmark building, which was destroyed in the fire, was the Palace Hotel, which had played host to many celebrities including royalty. It was eventually rebuilt. Important scientific laboratories suffered massive damages resulting in the loss of valuable specimens and scientific records. The Army was called out to help take control of the situation and troops were mobilized. However, martial law was never imposed and the troops followed the guidelines of the civil administration. Soldiers patrolled the streets to guard against looting especially buildings like the U.S Mint, the Post Office and the County jail. The army also took the responsibility of shelter, food and cloth of the millions who had been displaced by the earthquake. The army continued to render valuable service until 1st June 1906 when the civil authorities assumed responsibility and the army was relieved of the relief tasks. Then came the massive rebuilding task, which was undertaken swiftly, and houses were built to accommodate the displaced. Political and business leaders who feared that investment in the city would be severely affected by the repercussions of the earthquake at a time when outside investment was desperately needed to reconstruct the city downplayed the disastrous effects of the earthquake. While the original street grid was adhered to, wider streets and arterial thoroughfares found preference and a civic center complex and a subway under Market Street saw the light of the day. The Pacific Heights neighborhood was direct fallout of the earthquake and the moneyed class from Nob Hill migrated to this area. Reconstruction was completed by 1915 and since then the city has officially commemorated the disaster each year by inviting the survivors at Lotta’s Fountain which had been a meeting point for victims of 1906 to hunt for and exchange news about their loved ones. (“Timeline of the San Francisco Earthquake”) San Francisco emerged from the disaster stronger than and as resilient as ever and the mighty city again became a melting pot for people from across the world, which gives it its vibrancy. Many of the stories, which I read and heard were from a first person, account and to the survivors of that tragedy (many of whom lost their loved ones) a deep sympathy and respect for what they had to go through, goes out even as San Francisco managed to rise literally from the ashes. Works Cited 1. Mackenzie, Robert. K. The San Francisco earthquake & conflagration. Liverpool: Liverpool Post and Mercury Printing Works, 1907 2. “Over 500 Dead, $200,000,000 Lost in San Francisco Earthquake”, The New York Times, April 18, 1906, available at: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0418.html#article (accessed on December 1, 2008) 3. Strupp, Christoph, Dealing with Disaster: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, 2006, available at: http://repositories.cdlib.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1066&context=ies (accessed on December 1, 2008) 4. “Timeline of the San Francisco Earthquake”, The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco, 2008, available at: http://www.sfmuseum.net/hist10/06timeline.html (accessed on December 1, 2008) 5. The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco, Memorandum, April 27, 1906, available at: http://www.sfmuseum.org/1906.2/arson.html (accessed on December 1, 2008) 6. Wald, David, Kanamori, Hiroo, Helmberger, Donald and Thomas Heaton, What was the magnitude?, USGS, 2008, available at: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/nca/1906/18april/magnitude.php (accessed on november 30, 2008) Read More