Out of the Past
History Lessons
1906
The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire
 It
happend at 12 minutes past 5 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. Most
of San Francisco's residents were at home asleep and the streets were
virtually empty. That's when the earth began to shudder, buildings
began to crumble, clouds of dust rose up with flying timbers, and a
storm cloud of masonry fell upon the streets.The magnitude of the earthquake has been estimated at a moment magnitude (Mw) of 7.7 to as high as 8.25. The main shock epicenter occurred offshore about 2 miles (3 km) from San Francisco's city center, near Mussel Rock. It ruptured along the San Andreas Fault both northward and southward for a total length of 296 miles (477 km). Shaking was felt from Oregon to Los Angeles, and inland as far as central Nevada. The earthquake and resulting fire was one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the United States. The death toll from the earthquake and resulting fire, estimated to be above 3,000, represents the greatest loss of life from a natural disaster in California's history. The economic impact was comparable to the Hurricane Katrina disaster of 2005. Savoring the Calamity "Many men and women in San Francisco savored thier experiences of the calamity," write Kevin Rozario in The Culture of Calamity. "They had various motives. Some viewed the disaster as a bearer of life One man, having lost everything, later wrote happily to his sister about the benign influence of the crisis. 'The fresh air and out door roughing it' had made him feel fitter than ever; in the three weeks since the fire, he had been 'free from asthma, my direst enemy.' "Most of those who reflected on the restorative powers of the calamity, however, were more impress by its invigorating emotional impact. The disaster brought a touch of drama, excitement, and intensity into colorless lives. The earthquake and fire carried people out of the ordinary and into the extraordinary, opening them to intense, barely recognizable, emotions." Sources: The Culture of Calamity Disaster and the Making of Modern America by Kevin Rozario Wikipedia |
 The Culture of Calamity Disaster and the Making of Modern America by Kevin Rozario University of Chicago Press, 2007 From a 1638 earthquake in New England to the 1906 earthquake and fire in San Francisco and, finally, the ravages of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, this study examines the curious role of disasters in the development of the United States. Kevin Rozario, an assistant professor of American Studies, examines how our fascination with calamity has shaped our outlook and often inspired creative reactions. "Disasters, and discourses of disaster, have played a long and influential role in the construction of American identities, power relations, economic systems, and environmental practices. It is conventional, and by no means inappropriate, to think of disasters in strictly negative terms, but calamities have also often presented opportunities. The most potent philosophies of the last two centuries have insisted that improvement or "progress" unavoidably moves through catastrophic rhythms of destruction and reconstruction, ruin and renewal."
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