San Francisco residents mark anniversary of 1906 earthquake

[CountAllVotes]

Source: ABC7

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) --
Residents of San Francisco gathered at Lotta's Fountain on Market Street to honor the victims and survivors of the 1906 Earthquake Saturday morning.

A big crowd gathered to mark the anniversary. It's tradition to hold a moment of silence at 5:12 a.m. - the exact moment the quake struck 109 years ago today. There are now only two known survivors, 113-year-old Ruth Newman and 109-year-old William Del Monte.

An audio and visual exhibition of the earthquake, including items from 1906, will be held at the Ferry Building.


Read more: http://abc7news.com/news/sf-residents-mark-anniversary-of-1906-earthquake/668317/

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My family is from San Francisco and my great grandfather was in the militia after the quake occurred. I have a few "artifacts" that were salvaged from this huge quake that struck on this date in 1906.

This quake has been said to have been an estimated 9 on the richter scale even though the richter scale did not exist at this time.

I was living in The City when the Loma Prieta hit in 1989 and I left after that knowing that the next time around, the collapse of a Bay Bridge will be nothing to write home about. I truly fear for the worst for San Francisco (a city that has a long history of some huge quakes but ... don't tell anyone in the real estate market about this fact!).

The population of The City was not even close to what it is today and there were no sky scrapers in existence downtown.

Scared?

Damn right and everyone should be and also be prepared as well if there is such a thing one can do being earthquakes cannot be predicted.

[cosmicone]

1. East has blizzards, South has hurricanes, Midwest has tornadoes

I'd take earthquakes any day ... they happen rarely and with modern building codes and engineering, they are better than the yearly blizzards/hurricanes/tornadoes etc.

[yuiyoshida]

4. Spot on...

They happen here every day, we just never feel them. There are micro quakes each day, and we all go on with our business.. big ones rarely happen..



TODAY IN SAN FRANCISCO
A micro earthquake occurred at 7:46:24 AM (PDT) on Friday, April 17, 2015.
The magnitude 1.2 event occurred 4 km (3 miles) NNW of Pacifica, CA.
The hypocentral depth is 9 km ( 6 miles).



Magnitude 1.2 - duration magnitude (Md)
Time Friday, April 17, 2015 at 7:46:24 AM (PDT)
Friday, April 17, 2015 at 14:46:24 (UTC)
Distance from Pacifica, CA - 4 km (3 miles) NNW (348 degrees)
Daly City, CA - 7 km (4 miles) SSW (208 degrees)
South San Francisco, CA - 8 km (5 miles) W (267 degrees)
San Francisco City Hall, CA - 15 km (9 miles) SSW (206 degrees)
Coordinates 37 deg. 39.1 min. N (37.652N), 122 deg. 29.7 min. W (122.495W)
Depth 9.2 km (5.7 miles)
Quality Good
Location Quality Parameters Nst= 16, Nph= 17, Dmin=2.4 km, Rmss=0.05 sec, Erho=0.4 km, Erzz=0.4 km, Gp=154.8 degrees
Event ID# nc72429885

[CountAllVotes]

8. You might change your mind if ...

I've been researching earthquakes that occurred in San Francisco for a number of years now.

There were many of them and many of them were very big. In fact, I found a record of one that occurred around 1840 or so and at that time, San Francisco was fairly uninhabited.

There was a small military post out by what is now known as Fort Point near the Golden Gate Bridge.

A huge earthquake had occurred and there was a solitary man left at the site of where it had occurred and he wrote in a wire that he was able to send that "there is nothing left". Nothing.

There are other accounts of large quakes occurring in the 1860s and after and documented by Samuel Clemens (aka "Mark Twain&quot who was a writer for the Morning Call at that time. He wrote about mighty earthquakes occurring every two weeks in fact!

When one does a thorough review of this aspect of The City it should make most cower in fear, especially if they own some million dollar dump in the Tenderloin (or elsewhere) dare I suggest.

I do not know how well you remember the Loma Prieta, but I'll never forget those black helicopters flying overhead that night as the residents shook in fear with every aftershock.

Lombard street was basically not drivable the next day due to huge lumps that manifested due to the landfill built nature of the Marina District, but some how we made it down to Polk street only to find that Maye's Oyster House was open for business and yes, we had a fine, yet memorable lunch that day amidst the rubble. UGH.

[yuiyoshida]

16. cower in fear? COME to SAN FRANCICO

WATCH us cower in fear... OKAY?




WE ARE COWERING IN FEAR, UP A STORM!!

[CountAllVotes]

21. Where were you when the Loma Prieta hit?

I was working at a job and the one percenters I worked for were too scared to come to work. Hence, solitary I was the clean-up crew and was not paid but given triple comp time for the work which was in a decrepit building that was waiting to be inspected for safety yet there I was cleaning up their big messes.

And yes, they cowered in fear alright and no one showed up for work for several days until they thought it was safe again.

San Francisco will never be "safe again" being it is built on the San Andreas fault and land fill. Luckily, I was living on bed rock at that time, not in the building I once lived in that was across the street from where I worked which was a pile of rubble after that quake hit. The rest of the Bay Area is at high risk as well, esp. the Hayward fault which has been silent far too long.

I remember this like it was yesterday -- enjoy (not!).

[yuiyoshida]

23. YES I WAS THERE! I remember...

WE don't run from this...we have never run from this. Californians are hearty people who love where we live. I have been in many earthquakes...they will startle you at first, but they stop. The DANGER is enormous, but we don't run from it. WHY is that? Do you think we are STUPID? NO...WE don't run from it, because we were born here, grew up here, went to school here, lived here, all our lives. We don't run away with our tails between our legs...we are not COWARDS... HERE. THIS IS OUR STATE... its OUR HOME... YOU DON'T run away FROM that you love, the place you live, work, and breath from.

You can't live your life, living in fear. YOU just can't.

[cosmicone]

12. Thanks for the stats neighbor!

[yuiyoshida]

17. Smh....

people scared to live here, were gonna fall off into the the sea.. pffft...don't they know its the rest of America which will sink and we will be an island????

cowering in fear indeed... WE have the strongest economy of most of the states,.. yeah we got drought problems...big deal, we use earthquakes to stir our coffee in the morning...Republicans are far and few in our state capital, STAY STRONG
BAY AREA!!!!!!!! GO CALIFORNIA!!!

[cosmicone]

19. Even many of our republicans are democrat-lite

What is amazing about Bay area is that no ethnic group or race is a majority so one is viewed and valued for our talents and hard work and not for race, creed, culture, religion, national origin or sexual orientation. In fact, we value other cultures and want to learn about them rather than discriminate.

All that in addition to our national parks, coastal redwoods, death valley, silicon valley, central coast, hollywood and agriculture.

[NBachers]

20. If you're like me, you rush to the US Geological Survey's "Did You Feel It" page

so you can join with the other local earthquake nerds in reporting the quake's effect in your own zip code.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/dyfi/

[Brother Buzz]

2. We lost our great grandfather

He died a week before, but his casket was in transit when the earthquake struck. There was no package tracking back in those day and the freight company burned, so there is no record where he ended up. My grandmother believed he made it to the mortuary where his remains were removed so they could resell the casket.

[CountAllVotes]

3. Who was the undertaker?

Do you happen to know.

I hope it was not A. J. Sullivan as the Sullivan's in S.F. are cousins of mine!

Yikes is about all I can say other than you have my condolences (albeit late!).

[Brother Buzz]

5. No clue. It's just the story my grandmother told...

and she was just a young teen at the time, and very bitter after losing her father. All I know, he was lost in transit to the Odd Fellows Cemetery, never to be seen again. If you see an unattended casket parked somewhere in the "City", give me a buzz.

[SoapBox]

9. Whoa...that is one heck of a family story.

Thanks for sharing...it REALLY puts a personal note to the quake.

[CountAllVotes]

10. If he was buried in The City somewhere ...

Chances are that he was removed south to the city of Colma. This happened to many of my ancestors, including my grgrgrandmother from Ireland.

She got dumped too -- and I mean dumped! I found the removals in Colma but no grgrgrandmother! Seems that when it was decided to remove people that if you did not step up to the plate and claim said person and pay a fee, the removal was to -- a MASS GRAVE that still exists today at Holy Cross cemetery in Colma.

Was I angry when I found this out? You bet I was and I still am and I sure gave Holy Cross a piece of mind esp. considering the fact that I own two huge plots there by default it seems!

[Brother Buzz]

14. That would be true if he was stuck in the ground

He never made.

Mission Dolores and Presidio cemeteries are the only ones remaining in the city.

[CountAllVotes]

15. Odd Fellows Cemetery

I think this was located at the same, former place for the removals at as well (where USF is located -- Lone Mountain College).

It is truly a shame that he never made it back to be buried.

I had quite a few ancestors that were members of the Odd Fellows as well. They had a meeting hall downtown for many years. I'm not sure if they are still going or not.

Who knows the truth?

Sad story nonetheless!

[DeSwiss]

6. K&R

- Full screen for best effect......

[Kali]

7. oh my, thanks! sending this on

my sister is attending a conference there this week, she was out looking for a Russian bakery this morning.

I am jealous. Haven't been in decades. No fear from me. Such a beautiful city.

[CountAllVotes]

11. Russian bakeries ...

Awww yes, there used to be quite a few of them when I was living there.

However, most of them have long since been closed and taken over by other businesses, esp. in the Richmond and Sunset districts sadly.

I used to love the piroski that was sold at a bakery on Clement street. Just thinking about it makes me drool!

If she finds one, tell her to stock up while she can!

[Kali]

13. she found a couple of them and ended up at Cinderella Bakery and Cafe

for lunch and she got some poppyseed rolls for our Russian step-mother back in Phx.

[Brother Buzz]

24. Park Presidio bakery on Clement street was my go to for all things borscht and piroshki

In the seventies I worked at California Academy of Sciences and was introduced to Park Presidio. The best, bar none, despite the slowest service in North America. However, spending time with the octogenarian owner with incredibly kind azure eyes and genuine smile made up for the wait.

It's kind of a bummer and a real cultural loss that most of the scion of the original White Russians abandoned the bakeries and fled to the suburbs.

[CountAllVotes]

25. That place was great!!!

I loved the piroshki from there. The Russian lady that owned the place made the best barley soup I've ever had in my life.

It is a shame that this element of S.F. is long gone now.

I wonder if the bagel place on Geary is still there? They had the best bagels EVER!! YUM!!!

[Brother Buzz]

26. That lady was the owner's wife

She originally shepherded the kitchen, and by the looks of things, her flock was her sister and sister-in-law. The last time I visited, the kind old man was gone and she had moved up front to commanded counter. I suspect the place closed when she and her sisters packed it in.

I'd give a king's ransom for a dozen hot fresh piroshki straight from that kitchen.

[CountAllVotes]

27. I knew she had to retire

She had blood clots in her legs if I remember right and she couldn't keep going on like that being on her feet all day working away like a slave.

I always felt kind of sorry for that lady. She was a nice person and one hell of a cook.

I liked her beef/onion piroshki the best and second in line to that was the cabbage ones.

I too would give a king's ransom for a batch of those straight from the oven.

I've made my own piroshki but it is not even close to what she used to make. That was a sample of Russian cooking at its finest.

There was another place on Geary around 14th Avenue if I remember right on the left side on the street going towards Ocean Beach. That place was pretty good too, but no one in The City had piroshki as good as the place on Clement street.

I lived right off of Clement street for many years btw. It was at one time a truly ethic neighborhood -- a little bit of this and a little bit of that and the Arabic place on Clement had good piroshki too and was THE place to buy coffee!

I really miss Clement street of the era you mention. It was a great place to live at that time. I used to spend hours in the Green Apple book store at 2nd and Clement. That was a great book store! I suppose it is gone now too thanks to the internet and book buying in general is not what it once was for those of us that used to engage that hobby as I once did.

[Optical.Catalyst]

18. It will be here at the end of next month

[Politicalboi]

22. I would rather live in earthquake areas

Than tornado's or hurricanes. Earthquakes that are felt are rare, whereas tornado's are "going" to happen for sure every year.

[MisterP]

28. it's not really highrises

overpasses and dingbats have caused most of the deaths Nor or SoCal

highrises just ... quietly ... gallop