As fires rage in the background, the newly of San Francisco gather at Union Square. The tall steel skeleton, then known as the Union League Building, was under construction at the time of the earthquake, later finished, and still standing on Geary Street. The Butler Building at right, also under construction at the time. Its walls peeled away during the earthquake and killed several people in buildings adjoining the structure. On April 18, 1906 at 5:15 AM a quake of 8.25 on the Richter scale hit San Francisco. Greater destruction came from the fires afterwards. The city burned for three days. The combination destroyed 490 city blocks and 25,000 buildings, leaving 250,000...
Summary
The original finding aid described this photograph as:
[Complete] Scene Caption: As fires rage in the background, the newly homeless of San Francisco gather at Union Square. The tall steel skeleton, then known as the Union League Building, was under construction at the time of the earthquake, later finished, and still standing on Geary Street. The Butler Building at right, also under construction at the time. Its walls peeled away during the earthquake and killed several people in buildings adjoining the structure. On April 18, 1906 at 5:15 AM a quake of 8.25 on the Richter scale hit San Francisco. Greater destruction came from the fires afterwards. The city burned for three days. The combination destroyed 490 city blocks and 25,000 buildings, leaving 250,000 homeless and killing between 450 and 700. Estimated damages, over $350 million.
Base: San Francisco
State: California (CA)
Country: United States Of America (USA)
Scene Camera Operator: Unknown
Release Status: Released to Public
Combined Military Service Digital Photographic Files
Tags
Date
Source
Copyright info