1906 San Francisco earthquake fire. People on rooftops in San Francisco,California,USA,watching the fire caused by the large earthquake that occurred nearby on the San Andreas fault on 18 April 1906. The fire burnt for several days over an area of several square kilometres. It is estimated that 28,000 buildings were destroyed,over 3000 people killed,and up to 300,000 left homeless. The earthquake and fire was one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the USA. This was one of the first major disasters to be recorded by photography. This photograph,now part of the Karl V. Steinbrugge Collection,is from the Bear Photo Collection |