This Day in History: The Great San Francisco Earthquake

This Day in History:, The Great San Francisco Earthquake.

April 18, 1906.

At 5:13 a.m., an earthquake struck offshore of San Fransisco, a city with a population of 400,000 at the time.

The quake was felt from southern Oregon to Los Angeles, and ruptured 296 miles of the San Andreas fault.

Destroying San Francisco's water mains, the quake ignited massive, devastating fires all over the city that could not be combated.

The fires burned for days, resulting in the deaths of more than 3,000 people and destroying more than 28,000 buildings.

More than half of the city was left homeless by the disaster.

Damages were estimated to close to $15 billion in today's dollars.

The recovery and rebuild allowed city planners to make great improvements to San Francisco