1906 San Francisco Earthquake 100th Anniversary

1906 San Francisco Earthquake

Shoot to Kill

On Tuesday, April 18th at exactly 5:12am it will be the 100th Anniversary of the great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. There are many events planned in honor of this historic day, including the following:

1906 Great Earthquake & Fire Expo (4/15-4/17)

1906 Concert & Sing-Along: A Caruso Memory (4/17)

1906 Earthquake Commemoration (4/18 @ 5:12am)

1906 Great Earthquake and Fire Parade (4/18 @ 10:00am)

For some great 1906 earthquake history, check out The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco’s comprehensive Great 1906 Earthquake And Fire archive.

Here’s an excerpt from legendary opera singer Enrico Caruso’s account of the 1906 earthquake:

I remain speechless, thinking I am in some dreadful nightmare, and for something like forty seconds I stand there, while the buildings fall and my room still rocks like a boat on the sea. And during that forty seconds I think of forty thousand different things. All that I have ever done in my life passes before me, and I remember trivial things and important things. I think of my first appearance in grand opera, and I feel nervous as to my reception, and again I think I am going through last night’s “Carmen.”

Scott Beale
Scott Beale

Scott Beale founded Laughing Squid in 1995 in San Francisco and is currently based in New York City. When not running the blog, Scott can be found posting on Threads and sharing photos on Instagram.