Aftermath of San Francisco earthquake 1906

You can see many different photos from the 1906 San Fransisco earthquake but I think this one is a little unusual. It takes us right down to ground level, you can sense the complete devastation of the city. The foundations showing, if the quake didn't completely destroy the buildings it was generally the fire that did. As far as the eye can see the same picture continues, rubble. Wonder what the person with the horse cart is doing? Looking for materials to reuse?

San Francisco, 1906 Earthquake. Fire damage

Another example of a photo taken from the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco. What most people don't realise is that the bulk of the devastation was done by fire. The earthquake did cause huge structural damage but the fire spread and virtually flattened anything left. Insurance companies at the time did not protect people from earthquakes and so anything left standing was rumoured to be torched and left to burn for insurance to pay out.

1906 San Fransisco Earchquake and Fire

Some building remain from the 1906 quake in this photo but the fire virtually destroyed any left standing over the coming days. Hardest hit from the quake was the docks area, where the foundations for the building was poor and unstable to withstand any amount of friction.