At 5:12 a.m.on April 18, 1906, a magnitude 8.3 (Richter Scale) earthquake struck San Francisco. The earthquake was felt from southern Oregon to south of Los Angeles and inland as far as central Nevada.
Due to the thousands of buildings that lacked reinforcement and closely-spaced houses, the city was unprepared for the quake. The building collapses and a water shortage due to broken mains led to several large fires that combined into one huge city-wide fire that raged for three days and destroyed the entire downtown area. It destroyed 490 city blocks, a total of 25,000 buildings and made over 250,000 homeless. Damage estimates topped $350,000,000.
Over 3,000 people are estimated to have died as a result of the disaster. For those who survived, the first few weeks were hard, as aid poured in from around the country, thousands slept in tents in city parks, and citizens were asked to do their cooking in the street. Numerous businesses relocated temporarily to Oakland, and many refugees found lodgings outside the city.
Most of the cities of central California were badly damaged. However, reconstruction proceeded at a furious pace, and by 1908, San Francisco was well on the way to recovery.
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