Today is the 100th anniversary of the famous San Francisco earthquake.
On April 18, 1906, at 5:12 in the morning, an earthquake estimated at 8.25 on the Richter scale shook San Francisco, and lasted about one minute. What followed was a series of catastrophic fires that burned for three days and destroyed more than 500 blocks within the city.
According to the U.S. Census , conservative estimates have put the quake's death toll at more than 3,000 — with some estimates as high as 6,000 — mostly in the heart of the city of San Francisco. Between 225,000 and 300,000 people were left homeless with property damage estimated then at $400 million, which would equal approximately $8.2 billion in today's dollars.
In light of Hurricane Katrina, and the expectation that more disasters are predicted for 2006 due to global warming and other reasons, the Census Bureau offers some factoids on how much San Francisco has changed.
In 1900, the population of California was 1.5 million, making it the nation's 21st most populous state. As of July 1, 2005, California has grown to be the nation's most populated state with an estimated 36.1 million residents.
The population of San Francisco at the time of the 1900 Census was 342,782, the state's ninth most populous city. The latest estimate, July 1, 2004 suggests that 744,230 populate San Francisco today, making it California's fourth most populated city, and the 14th most populous city nationwide.
Six years before the devastating earthquake, there were 53,323 dwellings in the city. By 2004, there were 353,930 homes, according to American FactFinder.
After the earthquake, about 16,488 San Franciscans moved into 5,600 government-provided housing built in refugee camps across city parks. According to historians with The Western Neighborhoods Project, the "shacks" were built by Union carpenters for a cost of approximately $100 to $741 each, depending on size, painted green to blend in the park surroundings and rented to families at a cost of $2 to $6 per month.
Once the city was rebuilt, city leaders wanted the structures removed and offered to sell the shacks to homebuyers at about $100 each, if the homeowner arranged to cart the tiny no-kitchen, no-bath shacks away. Buyers sometimes cobbled two or more shacks together to relocate them to parts of the city that weren't destroyed by the earthquake and fires.
Most of the historical shacks have been destroyed but about 30 remain, and are being carefully monitored by the historical group. Since then, many of the shacks have been reclad with stucco and other materials and expanded and no longer resemble their humble history. One home, comprised of four shacks, is now a city landmark.
The Associated Press reported that one of the modest historical homes recently sold to an attorney for more than $600,000. It has 720 square feet.
At the time, the shacks are hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as a social step in the right direction. Says the AP, in 1907, the Chronical reported, "People of the narrow streets of the tenements, who all their lives have lived in stifling, dark rooms amid noisome surroundings, have been given a chance to own their own homes, garden spots and free air."
Between 1915 and 1989, there were well over 100 earthquakes of varying magnitudes reported in San Francisco, some hardly registering and others causing millions in damages.
On October 17, 1989, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck San Francisco killing 62 people throughout central California, injuring 3757 and leaving 12,000 homeless.
A U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), along with other scientists, have said "there is a 70 percent probability of at least one magnitude 6.7 or greater quake, capable of causing widespread damage, striking the San Francisco Bay region before 2030."
The same group believes there is a 75 percent chance of an earthquake in Southern California.
It was the 1906 San Francisco earthquake that helped create the field of earthquake science.
