'San Francisco is dead'

One hundred years ago this morning, California's most destructive earthquake—and worst natural disaster—devastated San Francisco. The 7.9 magnitude quake on the San Andreas fault ruptured the ground for three hundred miles and flattened the city. Then San Francisco caught fire. By the end, an estimated 3,000 people had perished. The San Francisco Chronicle has been running a marvelous series in the paper and on the website, looking back and forward.

Recommended:
Main page
Another 7.9 on the San Andreas would kill many more today
Galleries
Newsreel footage

Also:
USGS page on the 1906 quake
The last 7.9 quake in Southern California
Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country

Artwork: San Francisco Chronicle