The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 Imagine someone lying in bed, the sun has yet to rise when suddenly, everything around this person shakes violently, a thunderous roar deafens this person, the plates fall off the counter and break, furniture is being tossed around as if they were plush toys. He walks outside and see the surrounding neighbor hood completely destroyed. This is how the residents of San Francisco awoke at 5:12 A.M. on April 18, 1906 (Washington Times 1906). This earthquake caused major damage, and sparked a fire which burned down most of the city, killing thousands of people. This is the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906 which left the city in ruins, deeply affected the Chinese residents, and also brought …show more content…
It was a 7.8 magnitude earthquake which shook the city for 60 seconds (Ewers 2006). The power of this earthquake broke the underground pipes that were connected to the city’s water reserves, which would later prove to be fatal to the city (Ewers 2006). This meant that when the fire broke out, firefighters weren’t able to use fire hydrants since no water came This also allowed the fire to continue to spread throughout the city along with strong winds to help. People were forced to evacuate their homes, and take whatever belongings they could. Some people even slept on sidewalks, in case their home caught fire while they slept (Livingston n.d.). According to Justin Ewer’s, “Nightmare in San Francisco”, “Five hundred city blocks were burned. An estimated 3,000 to 5,000 people died.” After the disaster, the total cost of the damage done …show more content…
Initially, the community was in tatters. The death of Fire Chief Sullivan had hurt the morale early on (The Washington Times 1906). According to a newspaper by The Washington Times, the earthquake and fire caused 20 million dollars in damage to the city. This meant thousands of people lost their homes and became refugees. Howard Livingston, witnessed the effects of the earthquake on the community. In his transcript, “Memories of the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906”, he stated that there were volunteers to help distribute supplies to the refugees who couldn’t buy their food. The army had also provided tents to the refugees that lost their homes. Some of these people lived in these tents for up to a year (Livingston n.d.). They formed a communities in public parks; people who were a part of these communities helped one another out regardless of their race. People worked together, and volunteered to help clean the city (Livingston n.d.). One big reason why people helped each other was out of fear. Police were instructed to shoot at anyone who tried to loot a store (Winchester 312). People who lost their homes were sometimes taken in by friends or family members who still had their home intact (Livingston n.d.). However, it wasn’t long before the city began to rebuild itself. In Livingston’s, “Memories of the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906”, he stated that what
The fire lasted 2 days. The aftermath was disastrous. An estimated
Chines and other similar races had very difficult times back then 1900’s. They were discriminated and beaten. Both stories Dragonwings and “The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire” similar in ways and different in others. Overall they both portray the hard life of a chinese in the U.S. in the 1900’s. All Together, they are alike by, both having character in the U.S.A and them being discriminated upon.
They toppled telephone booths and lit newspaper kiosks on fire. They heaved bricks from a nearby construction site through the Forum windows. The aftermath left a costly amount of damage done and fear spread across the
The North Valley fire was one of the most destructive wildfires to ever burn the state of California. It started september 12 in Lake County, Califorinia a community 100 miles north of the city of San Francisco. The fire began around 1:00 pm in the afternoon,by 6:00 it already destroyed more than 10,000 acres. Entire towns and thousands of residents along a 35-mile stretch of State Route 29 were forced to evacuate, many running as the fire came down the hill toward their homes. California fire spokesman Dan Berlant said “wind gusts that reached up to 30 miles per hour sent embers raining down on homes and made it hard for firefighters to stop the blaze from advancing” .This
An inspirational event from Ruth Newman’s story of surviving the San Francisco earthquake is when Mrs.Newman was 4 when the earthquake shook. Newman memory never faded that her home was shaking about 70 miles north of San Francisco. Newman remembered that she was downstairs and her father picking her up and running out of the house. When the massive earthquake shook 1,000 people were killed by the earthquake and subsequent fires. Mrs.Newman was 113
A cloud of dust was visible from the rubble of the collapsed buildings. The only light in the city was the fire burning in the Marina district. Sirens blared from every direction. The shock was responsible for 63 deaths, 3,757 injuries and left 3,000-12,000 people homeless.
Acts of God: Chapters 1-2 In Acts of God, Ted Steinberg uncovers, among other things, how natural disasters have come to be perceived as beyond human control. Steinberg contends that the book focuses on the environmental, cultural, and social history of natural disasters. The text also expands on the relationship between humans and natural disasters. Indeed, chapter one elaborates on the Mount Pelee attraction on Coney Island and the history of calamity in Charleston, South Carolina.
Fires were being started in other buildings because of the falling debris. Power lines were down. The F.M. radio satellite was out of reach. Phone lines were jammed with all of the millions of calls being made. When the building had fallen the steel was still melting.
The firefighters were forced to leave the scene and let the fires blaze across the city. As the fires kept burning the city to ashes, the winds started to pick up. The wind recorded that day was as high as 25 mph. The fires swept across the city of Detroit burning anything that stood in its way. As the firefighters kept trying to come back to stop the fires they were viciously attacked by rioters.
Earthquake Essay In his excerpt “The San Francisco Earthquake,” Mark Twain outlines his personal experience of the San Francisco earthquake of 1865. Twain recounts every detail as he watches the events of both earthquake and panicked citizens unfold. In identifying the disastrous earthquake, Twain equates the urgency of all people, manipulates dark and unsettling diction, and provides the earthquake with more meaning through his characterization and personification of its effects.
He couldn 't even scream because he was choking on dust and barley move because he was being crushed be falling bricks. This book is about the massive earthquakes in San Francisco that occurred at 5:12 am on April 18th, 1906. The earthquakes terrified hundreds of thousands of people instantly. Thousands of people were killed, crushed to death by houses, buildings,
Streets are crammed with emergency vehicles, and traffic jams hold up the final roadways. News reporter Olivia Esposito put it best as: “The earthquake killed more than 60 people, injured almost 4,000, and left several thousand Californians homeless.” Undoubtedly, tons of people’s homes and appliances get destroyed due to earthquakes. According to the Earthquake Insurance Claim Form, over $8,000 are spent on bathroom appliances and more than $9,000 are used for bedrooms because of broken windows, displaced floors, and cracked closet walls.
This dry climate caused the wooden buildings to become incredibly dry, allowing the fire to spread quickly once it began (Bauer). These factors triggered the formation of convection whirls, walls of fire over one hundred feet high which spun violently like a hurricane. A witness described the
They entire time they knew how terrible the whole thing was. In the personal narratives “Comprehending the Calamity” by Emma Burke and “The Horrific Wreck of the city” by Fred Hewitt, the authors explain
The Cedar Fire was not the only fire burning, there were several other fires burning in California, limiting resources to San Diego County (CDF, 2004). The size of the fire crossed city and county jurisdictions requiring a multiple agency response, but coordination and communication was difficult due agencies not being fully equipped to response amongst each other (CDF, 2004). The fire not only raged through the wildlands of San Diego County, but destroyed planned communities and businesses, closed freeways, suspended flights, and even cancelled Monday Night Football (which was to be held at Qualcomm Stadium), since the stadium was being used as the main evacuation center (Dillion, 2003). The Cedar Fire was the worst case scenario, but many lessons were