|
|
| Hazard Photos Home | View Slides |
Earthquake Damage in San Francisco, California, April 18, 1906 |
| The 1906 San Francisco earthquake was the largest event (magnitude 8.3) to occur in the conterminous United States in the 20th Century. Recent estimates indicate that as many as 3,000 people lost their lives in the earthquake and ensuing fire. In terms of 1906 dollars, the total property damage amounted to about $24 million from the earthquake and $350 million from the fire. The fire destroyed 28,000 buildings in a 520-block area of San Francisco. This set includes a panoramic view of San Francisco in flames a few hours after the earthquake, damage scenes from the area, and other unique photographs. |
Fault Trace Breaks Fence NW of Woodville | |
 |
Faulting About one kilometer northwest of Woodville on the E.R. Strain farm this fence was offset 2.6 m by the main fault. Note the swerve in the fence as it approaches the fault-trace. The total displacement of the straight portions of the fence is about 3.3 m. On the Shafter ranch, a crevice momentarily opened wide enough to admit a cow and then immediately closed leaving only the cow's tail visible. In this area, the fault-trace was a trench more than 2 m wide filled with broken soil blocks. Photo credit: U.S. Geological Survey |
Skinner's Barn Offset by Fault Trace | |
 |
Faulting Nearly 13 kilometers farther north at W.D. Skinner's farm near Olema, the fence south of the barn was offset 4.7 m. The barn, beneath which the fault-trace passed, remained attached to the foundation on the southwest side, but was broken from it on the northwest side and dragged 4.8 m. The fault-trace at this location also showed vertical offset probably caused by local soil conditions. The maximum vertical displacement of the faulting was 1.2 m. Photo credit: G.K. Gilbert, U.S. Geological Survey |
Fault Severs House, Santa Cruz County | |
 |
Faulting The fault passed under this house near Wright's Station, on the Southern Pacific Railroad, in Santa Cruz County. The house was severed by fault movement during the earthquake. Photo credit: R.L. Humphrey, U.S. Geological Survey |
Road Cracks Caused by Earthquake | |
 |
Ground Effects and Building Damage Roadway displacement near San Francisco. Road embankments were often broken by faulting or by the shaking of soft ground beneath them. Those roads built over marshes within the high intensity zone were particularly prone to cracking. Photo credit: U.S. Geological Survey. |
Buckling of Union Street | |
 |
Ground Effects and Building Damage This portion of Union Street, not more than a quarter of a block in length between Pierce and Steiner Streets, had been filled to equalize the street grade, and the sides of the streets were not supported. During the earthquake the north sidewalk was shifted about 3.0 m to the north and depressed about 3.0 m below its original level. The south sidewalk was depressed a few centimeters and shifted to the north as much as one meter. The paving and cable conduit in this area incurred more severe damage than at any other point in the city. Photo credit: University of California, Berkeley |
Compression of Street Car Rails | |
 |
Ground Effects and Building Damage The compression of street car rails can be seen in this view looking south on Howard Street from 17th Street. In addition to the flow movement and the settling of the loose material causing subsidence, there was rhythmic movement in loose earth which produced wave forms in the surface with places of compression and distention. This movement contributed greatly to structural damage. These effects were confined to the "fill" areas on former marsh sites. Photo credit: G.K. Gilbert, U.S. Geological Survey |
Tipped House on Howard Street | |
 |
Ground Effects and Building
Damage On the east side of Howard Street near 17th Street in San Francisco all houses shifted toward the left. The three-story house dropped from its south foundation wall and leaned against the neighboring house. This area, called the Mission District, was a "fill" area along the former course of Mission Creek. It was an area of high-intensity shaking exceeded only by areas in close proximity to the fault. For blocks the land surface and paved streets were thrown into wave forms trending east and west. Photo credit: G.K. Gilbert, U.S. Geological Survey |
Compression of Paving in Mission District | |
 |
Ground Effects and Building
Damage This view is looking toward the east side of Howard Street between 17th and 18th Streets in the Mission District of San Francisco. The west side of the street (foreground) was destroyed by fire. During the earthquake bricks used in paving (foreground) were thrown upward by compression and the curbing was thrust into an inverted "V". Photo credit: U.S. Geological Survey. |
Tilted Buildings Caused by Ground Failures | |
 |
Ground Effects and Building Damage This row of 2-story buildings tilted away from the street when the ground beneath the foundations slumped. Such ground failures contributed to the shaking intensity and to the subsequent building damage. This photo was taken before fire destroyed entire block. Note billowing smoke in the sky. Photo credit: NOAA/NGDC. |
Horses Killed by Falling Bricks | |
 |
Shaking Damage: San Francisco These horses were killed and the wagon was crushed by falling debris. Note the welts on the horses' hide made as they struggled in the leather harness during the earthquake. Horses reportedly snorted and whinnied before the shock and tried to run when the ground motion began. The shaking was strong enough to throw some horses to the ground. Note the smoky appearance of the photo caused by the many fires in the area. Photo Credit: Eric Swenson, U.S. Geological Survey |
Severely Damaged San Francisco City Hall | |
 |
Shaking Damage: San Francisco The severely damaged San Francisco City Hall. The large cracks in nearby buildings indicated an intensity of shaking higher than was common in this area as a whole. However, poor quality construction was also an important factor in its destruction. The earthquake revealed shortcuts and substitutions in the construction. Photo Credit: W.C. Mendenhal, U.S. Geological Survey |
Damage to Library at Stanford University | |
 |
Shaking Damage: Palo Alto The library at Stanford University, Palo Alto, only 11.2 km from the rift. The new stone-faced brick structure, was completely destroyed except for a steel tower supporting its central dome. The building had just been completed and was not yet finished on the inside when the earthquake occurred. Other similar large structures on the campus were damaged while the one-story buildings survived relatively intact. Photo credit: W.C. Mendenhall, U.S. Geological Survey |
Damage to Memorial Church, Stanford University | |
 |
Shaking Damage: Palo Alto Memorial Church as seen from the inner quadrangle at Stanford University, Palo Alto. The stone tower of the church fell and destroyed the parts of the roof immediately around the tower. The gable on the north end of the church was thrown outward into the quadrangle. Photo credit: W.C. Mendenhall, U.S. Geological Survey |
Damage to Store in Palo Alto | |
 |
Shaking Damage: Palo Alto This store on University Avenue, Palo Alto was damaged. A number of buildings moved toward the southeast as much as 15 cm in this area. Other buildings showed evidence of twisting. The twisting was clockwise in some cases and counterclockwise in others. Photo credit: W.C. Mendenhall, U.S. Geological Survey |
Damage to First Baptist Church in Oakland | |
 |
Shaking
Damage: Oakland The First Baptist Church was located on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland across the bay from San Francisco. The church lost a portion of its bell tower and the gable ends of the building were thrown out. This photo illustrates the earthquake intensity in this area. Photo Credit: G.K. Gilbert, U.S. Geological Survey |
Collapse of City Hall at Santa Rosa | |
 |
Shaking Damage: Santa Rosa The City Hall at Santa Rosa collapsed along with many buildings in the business district, which consisted mainly of brick and stone masonry structures. The equivalent of eight city blocks was destroyed by the earthquake and five blocks by fire. Shoddy workmanship reportedly caused many buildings to fail. Lime mortar and poor quality sand had been used to cement bricks, and few structures had proper cross bracing. People caught in the debris were burned when they could not be freed. Sixty-one people died in this city, and a dozen were listed as missing. Photo credit: University of California, Berkeley |
Panoramic View of San Francisco in Flames | |
 |
Other Effects of the Disaster This panoramic view shows San Francisco in flames, five hours after the earthquake. The photo was taken from Mason Street at 10:00 A.M., April. 18, 1906. There is little evidence of earthquake damage. Most of the city's downtown buildings appear to be intact yet these were later partially or wholly destroyed by the flames. The fire continued unchecked for three days. Photo credit: NOAA/NGDC |
Tent Camp for Earthquake Victims | |
 |
Other Effects of the Disaster One of the camps set up for earthquake victims is depicted. Similar camps were established on the hills, parks, and open spaces of the city. Five days after the earthquake, rains brought indescribable suffering to the tens of thousands of people camped in the open. Few people had waterproof covering initially. The downpour aggravated the unsanitary condition of the camps and added numbers of pneumonia cases to the already crowded regular and temporary hospitals of the city. Eventually tents such as these were provided to the 300,000 homeless. Photo credit: Eric Swenson, U.S. Geological Survey |
View of Devastation Looking Toward Market Street | |
 |
Other Effects of the Disaster This view looks east toward Market Street in San Francisco. Wooden buildings, one to three stories high, with brick or stone-work fronts, were closely interspersed with two to eight story brick buildings. Mingled with these were modern office buildings. Here the fire burned fiercely In its aftermath, the streets were heaped with rubble to a depth of a meter or more and were nearly impassable. Because of the heat of the fire, much of the damage due directly to the shock was concealed or obliterated in this part of the city. Photo Credit: Eric Swenson, U.S. Geological Survey |
Panoramic View of Nearly Total Devastation of San Francisco | |
 |
Other Effects of the Disaster This view of the San Francisco ruins shows many square blocks completely leveled. The photo was taken on May 1, 1906, almost a month after the disaster. Much of the debris had already been hauled away leaving only empty ash-blackened blocks. Rebuilding of small buildings had already begun. Photo credit: San Francisco Examiner |