The Scoop APRIL 2017 | Page 41

So far, there were about 375 deaths reported, partly because hundreds of fatalities in Chinatown were either ignored or unrecorded. Till the day of today, the total amount of death is still unclear, but there’s an estimate of 3,000 death. According to records, most of the deaths were from San Francisco, but about 189 were reported elsewhere in the Bay Area. Out of a population of 410,000, between 227,000 and 300,000 people were left homeless. Neighborhood like the Golden Gate Park, the Presidio, the Panhandle, and beaches between Ingleside and North Beach were full of tents.

As damaging as the earthquake and its aftershocks were, the fires that broke out were even more destructive. Leaving San Francisco’s brick buildings and wooden Victorian structures totally devastated. It has been estimated that up to 90% of the total destruction was the result of the subsequent fires. Within just three days, there were over 30 fires caused by ruptured gas mains that destroyed approximately 25,000 buildings on 490 city blocks.

Here’s an interesting fact, one of the largest of these fires was accidentally started in a house on Hayes Street by a woman making breakfast for her family. This came to be known as the "Ham and Eggs Fire".

Katerine Chung-Chen