The San Francisco earthquake took place on
April 18, 1906 at 5:12 AM
It had a magnitude of 8.25 on the Richter Scale.
The ground broke open for more than 270 miles along the San Andreas rift.
Duration of the shaking was approximately 1 minute.
A comparison between the seimograph records of the 1906 San Francisco Quake, and the 1989 earthquake in Loma Prieta

"My bed was going up and down in all four directions at once, while all about me I heard screams, wails, and crashing of breaking china-ware and nick-nacks
A great portion of plaster right over the head of my bed fell all around me, and caused a cloud of dust, which was very hard to breathe through."
Peter Bacigalupi

"I was within a stone�s throw of that city hall when the hand of an avenging God fell upon San Francisco. The ground rose and fell like an ocean at ebb tide. Then came the crash. Tons upon tons of that mighty pile slid away from the steel framework and destructiveness of that effort was terrific. It is impossible to judge the length of that shock. To me it seemed an eternity. I was thrown prone on my back and the pavement pulsated like a living thing."
Fred J Hewitt

"I was awakened by a violent shaking of the house accompanied by a roar and the sound of cracking wood. My brother and I leaped out of bed and stood in the doorway of our room until the shaking stopped. I could hear the crash of falling bricks outside and heard my father say, "This is certainly a real earthquake." It was already light, 5:18 I noticed by the hall clock."
Howard Livingston "...nightgowned, barefooted men and women [were] upon the curbs. They ran about aimlessly. Some knelt on the sidewalks as if praying; some rushed back into their houses and out again; some looked mutely at the serene sky. They wanted to know what had happened � what was to happen."
Ernest S Simpson
"The shock came, and hurled my bed against an opposite wall.
I never expected to come out alive. I looked across the reception-room at the white face of our son, and thought to see the floors give way with him momentarily. How a building could stand such motion and keep its frame intact is still a mystery to me.
The electric poles stood in the most inebriated attitudes the length of our street. Chimneys on roofs, chimneys in the street, bricks and broken glass everywhere, stone steps gaping apart, wooden ones splintered, and buildings themselves at strange angles!"
Emma M Burke

"Buildings along First Street from Howard to Market crumbled like card houses. One was brick. Not a soul escaped. Clouds of that obliterated the scene of destruction. The dust hung low over the rubble in the street."
Thomas Chase

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The San Francisco earthquake took place on April 18, 1906 at 5:12 AM It had a magnitude of 8.25 on the Richter Scale. The ground broke open for more than 270 miles along the San Andreas rift. Duration of the shaking was approximately 1 minute. A comparison between the seimograph records of the 1906 San Francisco Quake, and the 1989 earthquake in Loma Prieta	"My bed was going up and down in all four directions at once, while all about me I heard screams, wails, and crashing of breaking china-ware and nick-nacks A great portion of plaster right over the head of my bed fell all around me, and caused a cloud of dust, which was very hard to breathe through." Peter Bacigalupi
"I was within a stone�s throw of that city hall when the hand of an avenging God fell upon San Francisco. The ground rose and fell like an ocean at ebb tide. Then came the crash. Tons upon tons of that mighty pile slid away from the steel framework and destructiveness of that effort was terrific. It is impossible to judge the length of that shock. To me it seemed an eternity. I was thrown prone on my back and the pavement pulsated like a living thing." Fred J Hewitt
"I was awakened by a violent shaking of the house accompanied by a roar and the sound of cracking wood. My brother and I leaped out of bed and stood in the doorway of our room until the shaking stopped. I could hear the crash of falling bricks outside and heard my father say, "This is certainly a real earthquake." It was already light, 5:18 I noticed by the hall clock." Howard Livingston	"...nightgowned, barefooted men and women [were] upon the curbs. They ran about aimlessly. Some knelt on the sidewalks as if praying; some rushed back into their houses and out again; some looked mutely at the serene sky. They wanted to know what had happened � what was to happen." Ernest S Simpson
	"The shock came, and hurled my bed against an opposite wall. I never expected to come out alive. I looked across the reception-room at the white face of our son, and thought to see the floors give way with him momentarily. How a building could stand such motion and keep its frame intact is still a mystery to me. The electric poles stood in the most inebriated attitudes the length of our street. Chimneys on roofs, chimneys in the street, bricks and broken glass everywhere, stone steps gaping apart, wooden ones splintered, and buildings themselves at strange angles!" Emma M Burke
"Buildings along First Street from Howard to Market crumbled like card houses. One was brick. Not a soul escaped. Clouds of that obliterated the scene of destruction. The dust hung low over the rubble in the street." Thomas Chase