San Francisco Rising
On May 18, 1906, at 5:12 a.m., a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the City. After the quake and ensuing fire, the City lay in ruins, approximately 6,000 people were dead, and almost two-thirds of the City's population was homeless. The Great Quake of 1906 is still considered one of the worst natural disasters in American history.
Every year since 1915, the die hard citizenry of San Francisco have gathered in the wee hours at Lotta's Fountain, an ancient monument downtown where quake survivors posted messages seeking out lost loved ones, to commemorate the quake with the laying of a wreath and a moment of silence at the exact time of the quake followed by a minute of bell ringing and sirens wailing in memorium. Following the bells and whistles, the quake survivors tell their stories. It's one of San Francisco's most cherished civic traditions and through the decades,