San Franciso marks earthquake anniversary
Thousands of San Franciscans have turned out to mark the 100th anniversary of a 7.9 magnitude earthquake that devastated their city.
An estimated 3,000 people died in the minute-long quake, which sparked three days of fires that devoured 500 city blocks and left half of the city's 400,000 residents homeless.
Most of the survivors were infants when the quake hit, but still have tales to tell.
"I remember a cow running up the hill with its tail straight in the air," survivor Violet Lyman said.
Another woman, 99-years-old, said says she considers herself "a product of the earthquake" because she was conceived and born in one of the many tents erected for survivors in Golden Gate Park.
Mayor Gavin Newsom says San Francisco is an example to places devastated by disaster, such as New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina last year.
"Who would have imagined that just a few days after that people would literally dust off and step up and seek to resolve to rebuild their home in the miraculous way that we see it here today," Mr Newsom said.
Sirens were sounded and bars were open at dawn to enhance the anniversary commemorations.
Residents awoke to find a copy of the morning-after 1906 edition of The Call-Chronicle- Examiner newspaper on their doorsteps, with the headline "Earthquake and Fire: San Francisco in Ruins".
City vulnerable
But for all the celebrations of survival, the anniversary also has served as a reminder of how vulnerable the Bay Area is to the movements in the seven faults in its environs.
Seismic experts believe the Bay Area has a 60 per cent chance of a major earthquake in the next 25 years.
An earthquake today on the San Andreas fault of the magnitude of the 1906 disaster could kill thousands and cause $US150 billion in damage.
"I live on the Hayward fault and we are up for another one," Art Brandenburg, who came to the ceremony in long underwear, a coat and top hat, said.
"Everyone needs to carry a whistle and a flashlight."
Mr Brandenburg says he dressed for the occasion to emulate Enrico Caruso, the great Italian tenor who was similarly clad as he fled his room at the nearby Palace Hotel when the quake hit.
Caruso never came back to San Francisco.
An estimated 3,000 people died in the minute-long quake, which sparked three days of fires that devoured 500 city blocks and left half of the city's 400,000 residents homeless.
Most of the survivors were infants when the quake hit, but still have tales to tell.
"I remember a cow running up the hill with its tail straight in the air," survivor Violet Lyman said.
Another woman, 99-years-old, said says she considers herself "a product of the earthquake" because she was conceived and born in one of the many tents erected for survivors in Golden Gate Park.
Mayor Gavin Newsom says San Francisco is an example to places devastated by disaster, such as New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina last year.
"Who would have imagined that just a few days after that people would literally dust off and step up and seek to resolve to rebuild their home in the miraculous way that we see it here today," Mr Newsom said.
Sirens were sounded and bars were open at dawn to enhance the anniversary commemorations.
Residents awoke to find a copy of the morning-after 1906 edition of The Call-Chronicle- Examiner newspaper on their doorsteps, with the headline "Earthquake and Fire: San Francisco in Ruins".
City vulnerable
But for all the celebrations of survival, the anniversary also has served as a reminder of how vulnerable the Bay Area is to the movements in the seven faults in its environs.
Seismic experts believe the Bay Area has a 60 per cent chance of a major earthquake in the next 25 years.
An earthquake today on the San Andreas fault of the magnitude of the 1906 disaster could kill thousands and cause $US150 billion in damage.
"I live on the Hayward fault and we are up for another one," Art Brandenburg, who came to the ceremony in long underwear, a coat and top hat, said.
"Everyone needs to carry a whistle and a flashlight."
Mr Brandenburg says he dressed for the occasion to emulate Enrico Caruso, the great Italian tenor who was similarly clad as he fled his room at the nearby Palace Hotel when the quake hit.
Caruso never came back to San Francisco.
posted by worldnews at 9:19 PM
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