The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906

A Virtual Field TripBy

Warren Kelly

Possible LessonsScience History Language Arts Character

Development•Build models to illustrate compressional, tensional, and transverse forces.•Give examples of each of these forces in pictures of the San Francisco earthquake•Using maps of the San Andreas fault area, project potential damage areas, and identify the type of force in each example.

•Trace the history of the city of San Francisco from it’s founding to the 1906 earthquake.•Use primary sources to describe the damage done to the city during the earthquake.

•Read and report on diaries of people who lived through the San Francisco earthquake.•Write a journal from the point of view of someone living in San Francisco before and after the earthquake.

•Cooperation: Describe how the people in San Francisco worked together to rebuild the city after the earthquake.•Heroism: Describe the ways that people put the needs of others ahead of themselves during the earthquake.

Connected Activities

The San Andreas Fault•Continental transform fault that runs throughout the state of California.•It forms the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate.

Historic San Francisco

The Mission San Francisco de Asís, the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco. It was founded by Lieutenant José Joaquin Moraga and Father Francisco Palóu in 1776.

Early San Francisco was centered on missions work with the local Ohlone Indians. The mission was founded in October of 1776, and was named after St. Francis of Assisi. The mission experienced some growth in the early 19th Century, but by 1842, only 8 Christians remained.

The Gold Rush

In 1849, gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill, several hundred miles east of San Francisco. The mission town became an important center for shipping, and by 1849 the population had grown to over 25,000 from just 1,000 a year earlier. The Gold Rush resulted in California being granted statehood in 1850.

The San Andreas FaultEach dot on this map indicates an earthquake that took place within the past week (as of 9/26/09).

The San Andreas Fault is an active fault line that passes through many heavily populated areas of California.

The 1906 Quake

Years later, the scars from the 1906 quake are still evident.

Primary Sources

Soil Liquifaction

The 1964 Niigata Earthquake Modern San Francisco At Risk

Above: The results of soil liquifaction – soil turning from solid to liquid. To the right: modern San Francisco, showing buildings downtown. The red zone indicated severe risk of soil liquifaction.

Virtual Field TripStudents will participate in a virtual field trip, using Google Earth and files found at the US Geological Survey website at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/nca/virtualtour/. The tour includes photographs linked to the specific area of San Francisco they were taken in, as well as written statements from eyewitnesses concerning the quake, also located geographically. Unfortunately, these files do not import into Power Point.

Also included will be the interactive map of the area at the University of California at Berkley’s collection found at http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/collections/earthquakeandfire/interactivemap/index.html