Great San Francisco Earthquake

On this day, April 18 in 1906 at 5:13 a.m., an earthquake estimated at close to 8.0 on the Richter scale struck San Francisco, California, killing hundreds of people as it toppled numerous buildings. The quake was caused by a slip of the San Andreas Fault over a segment about 275 miles long, and shock waves could be felt from southern Oregon down to Los Angeles.

By April 23, most fires were extinguished, and authorities commenced the task of rebuilding the devastated city. It was estimated that 3,000 people died as a result. Almost 30,000 buildings were destroyed, including most of the city's homes and nearly all the central business district.

San Andreas Fault

See the diagonal line that runs through the orchard in this photo? That's the San Andreas Fault - a point where the edges of two tectonic plates meet, producing a visible displacement amongst the rows of trees.

When they were planted years ago, the rows were straight, but as the two land masses moved in opposite directions and rubbed against each other over the years the orchard was split. The top half of the field sits on the pacific plate, the bottom half on the North American plate.