The Earth Shook,
The Sky Burned,
and The Blood Drained
"In every direction from the ferry building flames were seething, and as I stood there, a five-story building half a block away fell with a crash, and the flames swept clear across Market Street and caught a new fireproof building”
"There was a thin column of smoke, rising slowly up into the sky, high up into the sky. We tried to rescue people but the heat of the flames pushed us back."
"Kissed my mother good night and she said, 'Be sure you say your prayers before you go to bed.' Little did I know, at that moment, that I would never see my family again."
This were words of the few survivors of the horrific event of April 18, 1906. This year, 2017, marks the 111th aniversary of the Greatest Earthquake and fire of San Francisco. At 5:12 a.m San Francisco was struck with an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 that cause more than 3,000 of deaths and destroyed about 80% of the city. The earthquake only lasted less than a minute, but its immediate impact was disastrous. It ignited several fires around the city that burned for three days and destroyed nearly 500 city blocks. This event is remembered as one of the worst and deadliest natural disaster in the history of the United States. Even though the greatest impact of the earthquake was only in San Francisco, it also inflicted considerable damage on several other cities. These include San Jose and Santa Rosa, the entire downtown of which was essentially destroyed.