At 5:13 A.M. on Tuesday April 18, 1906, San Francisco was hit by an earthquake that has been estimated to be an 8.5 on the Richter scale. It was felt 730 miles away. It destroyed electric lines, trolley tracks, water pipes, bridges, and buildings. Communications, transportation, and medical services were damaged or eliminated. There had been smaller earthquakes in 1957, 1865, 1868, and 1890. For that reason, people tended to built with wood instead of brick because wooden buildings handle shaking better. The problem is wood burns. Plus, with the alarm system knocked out firefighters were unable to pinpoint the many fires that broke out. And when they did try to fight back, the water mains were broken. The Army and National Guard were brought in and Mayor Schmidt ordered soldiers to shoot on sight any looters. Unfortunately, some of those shot were homeowners searching their own homes. Meanwhile the fires were uniting and spreading rapidly. Some fires moved faster than a man could run. Schmidt ordered dynamite be used to create firebreaks. This only partially slowed the fires down. In one case, a large fire had been stopped when some soldiers entered Delmonico Restaurant to cook breakfast. Their fire got out of control and became the famous “Ham and Eggs Fire”. After four days, the fires were finally controlled. 700 people died, 497 city blocks were wiped out, 28,000 buildings were destroyed, including 30 schools.
- Uncle Inspiring pp. 45-47, 251-253
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