most of the destruction in san francisco following the earthquake of 1906 happened due to fires.
most of the destruction in san francisco following the earthquake of 1906 happened due to fires.
most of the destruction in san francisco following the earthquake of 1906 happened due to?
fires
due to a widespread practice by insurers to indemnify san francisco properties from fire, but not earthquake damage, most of the destruction in the city was blamed on the fires. some property owners deliberately set fire to damaged properties in order to claim them on their insurance. capt. leonard d. wildman of the u.s. army signal corps reported that he "was stopped by a fireman who told me that people in that neighborhood were firing their houses… they were told that they would not get their insurance on buildings damaged by the earthquake unless they were damaged by fire. the insurance industry eventually paid out over $250,000,000 (the largest amount they paid out for the next 60 years) which significantly helped to rebuild the city." building standards of the original 1906 buildings had almost no earthquake resistance built in. since 1906 earthquake standards have been steadily upgraded as damages caused by earthquakes are investigated. unfortunately, a lot of older buildings do not meet today's standards, and it would typically cost too much to upgrade them. it was discovered in 1906 (again) that all masonry-type structures built of brick and un-reinforced concrete are resistance to fire but not earthquakes. a detailed analysis of the city of san francisco today estimates that an earthquake over 7.0 magnitude would completely destroy or seriously damage many sections of san francisco and could possibly result in thousands of deaths. today in most communities, structures built to later earthquake standards would do well in all but the strongest earthquakes. the water mains and other infrastructure needed for fighting fires have all been upgraded but are yet untested.
history of california 1900–present
bullet::::- the 1936 movie "san francisco" is based on the event.









































bullet::::- rebuilding san francisco following the 1906 earthquake destruction is a scenario in the "sim city" videogame.
1906 san francisco earthquake