At 5:13 a.m, April 18, 1906, the Earthquke of 1906 struke the town San Francisco. The estimated force of the quake was 8.25 on the Richter scale ( 8.0 is the level at which an earthquake causes severe property damage and loss of life). Fires from gas Jets broke out throughout the city. During the earthwuake the water main that brought water from the resevoir broke, which left the firefighters powerless in the fight still managed to cause massive destructuion of San Francisco.

The Earthquake and Fire of 1906 is still known as the largest single diasater in the city's history. 490 blocks of San Francisco burned, a totla of 2831 acres. The casualties resulting from the Earthquake and fire ranged from 300 to 700 people. The actual number that died is unknown due to the mass destruction of property and scattering of people in refugee camps.

But this was no the first earthquake to strike California; California has always been plagued by earthquakes. The earliest written account of a earthquake was in 1790, it was recorded by Spanish explorers who recorded a report by Indians of an Earthquake eighty years earlier, in what is now known as Owens Valley.During the period of 1900-1974 there was 39,578 earthquakes of varying sizes in California, of these 3600 were above 4.0 on the Richter scale, which means that they were strong enough to be felt.

In 1865 there was a quake centered in the Santa Cruz of Santa Clara counties which had a force of 6.2 on the Richter sclae. This was followed by another earthquake in 1868, with a force of 6.7 on the Richter scale, it was centered on the Hayward fault in the East Bay.

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