The Tectonic Setting For The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake

One of the biggest plates in California is the pacific plate, which is moving in a northwest direction while another one of California’s plates, the north American plate, is moving towards the southwest. The movement from the north American plates is creating compressional forces along the eastern section

The San Andreas fault line has caused constant development nightmares for large urban areas such as San Francisco as well as the other cities built on top of it. Fault lines are one of the side effects of the earth’s tectonic plates shifting that can result in devastating earthquakes. Some of the most devastating earthquakes in our modern era have occurred along the San Andreas fault line due to a dense population. The most notable and destructive earthquake on the San Andreas fault line occurred in San Francisco in 1906. The reason this earthquake was so deadly was because of its magnitude and the city’s poor planning. This earthquake was a wakeup call for San Francisco and force the city to revolutionize its knowledge on earthquakes and how to protect their city. Today San Francisco is one of the most well prepared cities for an earthquake and has made great discoveries in earthquake safety measures. The 1906 earthquake in San Francisco has drastically changed how the city has developed its zoning and building code policies, and its earthquake research.

About 4000 people were killed over 9000 that were injured that was this famous event you might ask? It was the loma prieta earthquake, also known as the world series earthquake. Taking place in san francisco 1898 this was one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded in the bay area. This earthquake caused an estimate of 5.6 billion dollars for the total damage it had done .The person the was interviewed for this event was Mr.Demichel.he was about 10 when he felt the earthquake.

The earthquake was located on the San Andreas fault which is a seismic zone between two of the earth’s tectonic plates. Seismic events which occur is caused as a result of the earth’s tectonic plates moving against each other and this can cause huge earthquakes and volcanoes (“Young”). The transform boundary passes through California and this is where the Pacific and North American plates move past each other without colliding. The event in which this occurred was the San Andreas fault (“Young”). When the plates move past each other and the resistance builds up, this causes an earthquake like the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. This earthquake caused a separation and displacement in the landscape which was seen over several kilometers

The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake tectonic setting was in the outermost shell of earth known as the crust this is composed of rigid plates that have been moving for hundreds of millions of years. Two of these moving plates meet in western California; the boundary between them is a zone of faults, the principal one being the San Andreas fault. The horizontal sliding of the Pacific Plate relative to the North American Plate, causes earthquakes along the San Andreas fault and similar plates near the region. The San Andreas fault is a transform plate boundary, accommodating horizontal relative motions (usgs.gov).

The San Francisco Earthquake written by Jack London is journal of his events throughout the devastating acts of God that hit San Francisco in 1906. (461-466)

The fire destroyed about 3.5 miles of Chicago. Thousands of buildings were burned to the ground, homes were destroyed, and even the fire proof building collapsed due to the destructive fire. The fire caused 200 million dollars in damage in just two days. It was shocking for residents to come back and see their beloved city destroyed. By the end of the fire, 300 people had died and about 100 thousand people were left homeless and jobless. This was a devastating time to be in

On April 18, 1906, an earthquake occurred in San Francisco with a magnitude of 7.9. The earthquake was caused by the San Andreas Fault since the San Andreas Fault slip over a segment. The earthquake could be felt from Oregon to southern California. Buildings in San Francisco was destroyed by earthquake and fires. Fires started after the earthquake occurred and firefighters were not able to stop the fire because the water mains were broken and because of this, firestorms started to develop around San Francisco. Then, the San Francisco Mayor E.E. Schmitz called the U.S. Army troops to shoot anyone that is found looting. While the army was doing that, firefighters and U.S. troops tried to fight the fire by dynamiting the city to create firewalls.

California, and thus San Francisco, lies on the San Andres fault. The earthquake was caused when this fault suddenly shifted, with the rupture spreading for a total of 476 kilometres in northward and southward direction. “This fault is a continental transform fault, which forms part of the tectonic boundary between the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate.” (1906 Earthquake: How long was the 1906 Crack? USGS Earthquake Hazards Program – Northern California, Accessed September 3, 2006). 1 The distance of the fault is of about 1300 kilometres, which runs the length of California from Cape Mendocino in the north to the Salton Sea in the south. Geologists have estimated that the fault moved as quickly as 2.74 kilometres per second. The San Andreas Fault, the source of this disaster, lies ten miles or deeper, at the meeting point of two tectonic plates, the Pacific and the North American. “The right-lateral strike-slip fault is characterized by mainly lateral motion in a dextral sense, where the western plate (Pacific plate) moves northward relative to the eastern plate (North American

According to the court clerk of the U.S. District Court of San Francisco, the earthquake lasted around a minute, however that minute was enough to inflict one of the most devastating disasters in United States history. The earthquake was felt from Oregon to Las Angeles as well as Nevada with the epicenter occurring 2 miles away from San Francisco in the Pacific Ocean. The quake resulted in water mains and gas lines breakages, and the fires raged unchecked which spread to over 500 blocks in San Francisco. Although the earthquake of 1906 is known as the San Francisco earthquake, the cities of Santo Rosa and San Jose were affected as well and lost much of their infrastructure.

The damages were catastrophic as houses lay in ruin and debris littered the roads. There were mudslides and fallen rocks that paved the roads and made them impassible for vehicles to get through. Ultimately by the roads being clogged up the response time by rescue workers and essential personal were hampered. This also made it exceptionally difficult for supplies to be rushed to the locations for the earthquake survivors. As some were digging and excavating for survivors they were being halted by aftershocks and falling debris from above. Approximately 8000 people were killed either by their houses caving in or by the other disasters this earthquake triggered. It was a real life tragedy that

Shake Maps provide an alternative way to investigate a seismic event, with an emphasis more on surface strength and its impacts, than in ground- motion modelling. Shake maps rely on the use of the Modern Mercalli Intensity scale (referred to in the rest of this literature review as the MMI scale) to represent the strength an earthquake. MMI is a scale which is used to show the strength of an earthquake, with regards to the damage it causes. This is an area of investigation for the 1906 San Francisco in which there are numerous sources from Lawson et al. as volume one of the report contains countless reports of damage caused across the state of California by the 1906 earthquake. While adjustments have been made to the scale we use

The San Andreas Fault is one of the most widely studied faults in the world. Scientists use an array of methods in collecting data and providing analysis of fault characteristics both past and present. Presently there are many differing hypothesis and models used to describe crustal movements and deformation within the Pacific and North American plate boundary. Historical earthquakes along this fault have proven to be rather large and devastating. This is important since the San Andreas Fault runs along many highly populated areas throughout Northern and Southern California. Through further research and analysis of this fault system scientists hope to solve

     An Earthquake is the shaking of the earth's surface caused by rapid movement of the earth's rocky outer layer. The sudden shaking of the ground that occurs when masses of rock change position below the Earth's surface is called an earthquake. The shifting masses send out shock waves that may be powerful enough to alter the surface of the Earth, thrusting up cliffs and opening great cracks in the ground.

Earthquakes are the direct result of an abrupt release of energy beneath Earth’s surface. This discharge of tension is typically caused by the movement of tectonic plates. As plates move past one another, the faults, or boundaries of the plates, come into contact. The rough and often jagged edges of faults cause the plates to generate friction, or “a resistance to the movement that is caused by rough spots on their surfaces catching against each other” (Silverstein et al. 43). The friction between the tectonic plates builds up until it is finally released in the form of seismic waves. There are