BOOK REVIEW: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906

The Story of the Deadliest Earthquake in American History, By Charles River Editors

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Kristin Holt | BOOK REVIEW: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906: The Story of the Deadliest Earthquake in American History, By Charles River Editors. Vintage photo of San Francisco Earthquake and subsequent Fire, April 1906. Image Pinterest.

San Francisco Earthquake and subsequent Fire, April 1906. Image: Pinterest.

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The 1906 San Francisco earthquake struck the coast of Northern California at 5:12Â a.m. on AprilÂ 18 with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.8 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme). Severe shaking was felt from Eureka on the North Coast to the Salinas Valley, an agricultural region to the south of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Devastating fires soon broke out in the city and lasted for several days. As a result, about 3,000 people died and over 80% of the city of San Francisco was destroyed. The events are remembered as one of the worst and deadliest natural disasters in the history of the United States. The death toll remains the greatest loss of life from a natural disaster in California’s history and high in the lists of American urban disasters. [source]

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San Francisco City Hall Interior, showing the destruction of the April 1906 Earthquake (and subsequent fire). Image: Pinterest.

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This brief (1 hour, 13 minutes) nonfiction coverage of the great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake was informative. The presentation held my interest and yet was terrible. The tale seemed complete, as it included the consequences (fire, loss of life, etc.).

I found myself riveted and unwilling to stop listening. Kat Marlowe did a fine job narrating this unabridged audiobook.

As with most books by Charles River Editors, the coverage was both individual and broad. Stories and elements of first-person accounts found in diaries, letters, and newspapers enriched the big picture. The history is short enough to read (or listen) in one sitting. I feel I learned more in that hour and one-quarter than in American History classes in school.

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