Essay On Earthquake Of 1906

How the Mishandling of the Great

Earthquake of 1906 Began the Panic of 1907

Natural disasters and macroeconomics are not two topics one would normally think to place together as affecting one another; however, natural disasters have the ability to play a large role in macroeconomics. For example, as tectonic plates ruptured on a chilly, San Franciscan morning in 1906, the American economy soon followed suit in a rupture of its own. Although the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a natural disaster, it is believed that its poor handling set off a chain of events that caused the Panic of 1907. The destructive decisions made primarily by San Francisco’s corrupt Mayor Eugene Schmitz and ruthless Army General Frederick Funston in the aftermath of

Not only were the buildings not properly built or fireproofed, Fire Chief Dennis T. Sullivan’s proposed plans to prepare the city for a fire of this magnitude were all rejected by Major Eugene Schmitz (“San Francisco”. 2010). Of course Schmitz could not have known for certain that a fire that would burn for three days would sweep the city after a prolific earthquake, but given San Francisco’s track record with fire, he could have guessed at some point the city would once again be swept up in flames and have a need for an updated firefighting plan. Mayor Schmitz rejected Fire Chief Sullivan’s funding for training his men in proper techniques for using explosives to create fire blocks, as well as his pleas for buildings to be brought up to proper fire and safety codes (“San Francisco”. 2010). Sullivan also submitted requests to move the firefighting water sources from the risky underground pipes to the unlimited waters of the Bay of San Francisco, but Fire Chief Sullivan’s requests fell on deaf ears (“San Francisco”.