Title: 1906 - San Francisco Earthquake

 

About: San Francisco is levelled by a powerful earthquake, with a fire raging out of control in the aftermath, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless and killing around three thousand.

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On April 18, 1906, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake centered near the city of San Francisco struck at 5:15 AM.  The quake lasted only a minute, but ruptured the San Andreas fault to the north and south of the city, for a total of 296 miles. The intense shaking toppled hundreds of buildings, but the resulting out-of-control fires were even more destructive. Broken water mains and limited firefighting capabilities allowed city-wide fires to burn for several days.

 

Nearly 500 city blocks were flattened, with more than 25,000 buildings destroyed. At the time, the city was home to more than 400,000 residents —after the disaster, 250,000 were left homeless.

 

Despite the devastation, San Francisco recovered quickly from the earthquake, and the destruction actually allowed planners to create a new and improved city, with a more logical and elegant structure, and buildings which were fire and earthquake resistant.

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Decade: 1900s

Year: 1906

Region: North America

Country: USA

Disaster: Natural

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Type: Historical Event

Impact: 5

Artist: Vlad Nikulin

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Group: Genesis

Number: 06/100

Price: 0.2 ETH

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