¤Article 6¤ Conclusion ...

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The death toll from the earthquake and resulting fire represents the greatest loss of life from a natural disaster in California's history. The economic impact has been compared with the more recent Hurricane Katrina disaster.
The 1906 earthquake had such an impact on people's mind that many movies were made after this event. One of the most famous was surely "San Francisco", 1936.



San Francisco is a romance film starring Clark Gable, Jeannette MacDonald, and Spencer Tracy. The then very popular singing of MacDonald helped make this film a hit. Tracy knocked Gable down during a boxing match in the film, aiding his career. The film was directed by Woody Van Dyke.

Plot summary: "Blackie" Norton (Clark
Gable), a gambling hall tycoon in the notorious Barbary Coast, hires a promising, but impoverished classically-trained singer from Colorado, Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald). She becomes a star attraction, and a romance develops between them. Complications arise when she is offered an opportunity to sing in the opera. Meanwhile, Blackie's childhood friend, Roman Catholic Father Tim Mullen (Spencer Tracy), keeps trying to reform him, while the other nightclub owners attempt to convince Norton to run for the City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors in order to protect their crooked interests. Despite Father Tim's best efforts, Blackie remains a jaunty Barbary Coast atheist until the famous 1906 earthquake devastates the city. He "finds God" upon discovering that Mary survived....



Click here to see extract !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAoNDihnfbc

¤Article 5¤ What about the authorities ?

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They were helpless. Indeed, the water system was destroyed by the earth tremor. No water was therefore available. The firemen watched, powerless, while the fire demolished the entire city. The Civil Service made do with temporarily lodging the homeless.

¤Article 4¤ A couple of numbers ...

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* Deaths: > 3,000
* Injuries: ~225,000
* Property Damage: $ 400,000,000 in 1906
* San Andreas Rift: 270 miles


==> The ground had broken open for more than 270 miles along a great fault - the San Andreas rift. The country on the east side of the rift had moved southward relative to the country on the west side of the rift.

¤Article 3¤ What really happenned ...

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The earthquake, although very powerful (8,2 on Richter's scale, out of 9), was not very murderous. The fire, caused by the earthquake, was the most dreadful. Some say that the fire was caused by the sparkles of the cable-cars that fell down after the shock. Others say that it was the knocked-over lamp oils that created the flames.



At this time, the local houses were mostly made out of wood, which increased the propagation of the fire. Indeed, half an hour after the shock, 50 houses are already devastated by the flames. The fire goes on for two whole days, devastating half the city and killing 450 people.

¤Article 2¤ 5:12 AM, April 18, 1906 ...

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The California earthquake of April 18, 1906 ranks as one of the most significant earthquakes of all time. Indeed, it ruptured the northernmost 296 miles of the San Andreas fault from northwest of San Juan Bautista to the triple junction at Cape Mendocino.Modern analysis estimates it registered 8.25 on the Richter scale.

Photographs of Damage From the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake

At almost precisely 5:12 a.m., local time, a foreshock occurred with sufficient force to be felt widely throughout the San Francisco Bay area. The great earthquake broke loose some 20 to 25 seconds later, with an epicenter near San Francisco. Violent shocks punctuated the strong shaking which lasted some 45 to 60 seconds. The earthquake was felt from southern Oregon to south of Los Angeles and inland as far as central Nevada.


Cities which were damaged during the 1906 earthquake

¤Article 1¤ San Francisco, before ...

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San Francisco, 1847

In the mid nineteenth century, San Francisco is a small village, which the 1848 Gold Rush transformed into a big city of 50 000 inhabitants. In 1906, it becomes the ninth metropole of the United States, with over 250 000 inhabitants. By this time, San Francisco had become an elegant and modern city, a true cultural center.




San francisco, 1858


San Fransisco is a very renowned city for its many theatres and operas as well as for its business district, where banks and houses of trade prosper. Unfortunately, this quarter of business, symbol of dynamism in the city, is completely destroyed by the colossal fire of April, 1906...