1906 San Francisco Earthquake

The California earthquake of April 18 1906 was one of the most significant earthquakes of all time.
San Francisco in 1906 was the largest and most important port on the pacific coast, and the ninth largest city in the United States and it had the largest china town outside of Asia. The population of this large city at the time was only 400,000.
On April 18 1906 people were still sleeping and some were just waking up around 5:00 am. But at 5:12 am the ground began to violently shake beneath them and outside their windows buildings were falling down. The shaking lasted around 45 to 60 seconds. This massive earthquake was so large that it was felt in Oregon to Los Angeles and inland as far as central Nevada. Rupturing the north most 296 miles of the San Andréas fault from northwest of San Juan Batista to the triple junction at Cape Mendocino, the earthquake confounded geologists with its large horizontal rupture length. The earthquake estimated at approximately 8.25 on the later developed Richter scale.
The great fire that burned after the earthquake had caused most of the damage in the city. The fire burned for four long days and burned most of the remaining buildings.
The earthquake and fire left 3/4 of the population homeless. Over 3000 deaths were caused directly or indirectly by the catastrophe at. 498 deaths were reported in San Franscisco.64 in Santa Rosa, and 102 in and or near San Jose. The death toll rose to 3000 because many were shot when mayor Eugene Schmitz ordered police and army personnel to shoot looters.
In conclusion the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was one of the most largest and devastating earthquakes of all time and is a big part in U.S. history.
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