July 19, 2019 ▸ Disaster, History

Episode 404: Great Quake of 1906: San Francisco’s Deadliest Days

On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we feel the earth move under our feet and look back at the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. It is considered by many to the worst natural disaster in American history, killing 3000 people and destroying 80% of what was then the 9th largest city in the US. But what made this quake so unique? For one, it was the first disaster that happened after cameras were pervasive, so there is footage of the destruction. Another thing was the fires. Of the destruction, some people estimate that 90% of the damage was done by fires.

The quake itself hit on April 18th just after 5:00 AM. There was a foreshock, and then the big one. Estimates put it between 7.4 and 8.3, but nobody knows for sure since this predates the Richter Scale. Water mains burst, buildings collapsed, and gas mains erupted, causing the horrible fires.

The fires raged for 4 days and 4 nights, and nobody could really stop them. There was no more running water, the fire chief died from injuries, and nobody could move fire equipment through the mountains of rubble. Estimates are that 25,000 properties burned that week.

This was a city of 400,000 at the time, and an estimated 310,000 were suddenly homeless. The only way they survived was to build a tent city with the help of 4000 army troops. The army fed and sheltered them in a pre-FEMA tent city, and at times shot them for looting or lighting fires in their homes. There were dramatic rescues of 20,000 through a navy ship, and some 40,000 who were injured in the tent city were treated by a group of doctors who would go on to found UC, San Francisco.

Interesting stories surface, such as the story of a small neighborhood banker who snuck his $80,000 of gold and silver past the looters by hiding it in orange crates (and later grew to be one of the largest banks in the world because of it!). It took the city 4 years to come back to life, and some of it was now built on top of the rubble of the destroyed old city. Though the city tried to force the Chinese out, they held their ground and developed the robust China Town San Francisco now knows. If you like history, disaster, triumph stories, The Bay Area, or things that jiggle, this one is for you!

National Film Registry and Library of Congress Footage from the Rubble:

https://www.loc.gov/item/00694425/