This Day in History: <br />The Great San Francisco Earthquake April 18, 1906 At 5:13 a.m., an earthquake <br />struck offshore of San Fransisco, <br />a city with a population of 400,000 at the time. The quake was felt from <br />southern Oregon to Los Angeles, <br />and ruptured 296 miles of the San Andreas fault. Destroying San Francisco's water mains, <br />the quake ignited massive, devastating<br />fires all over the city that could not be combated. The fires burned for days, <br />resulting in the deaths of more <br />than 3,000 people and destroying <br />more than 28,000 buildings. More than half <br />of the city was left <br />homeless by the disaster. Damages were estimated at an amount that <br />today equals to close to $15 billion. But the <br />recovery and rebuild allowed city planners <br />to make great improvements to San Francisco.
