San Francisco Earthquake Anniversary

Photo courtesy of San Francisco History Center, San Franciso Public Library

An article from the San Francisco Chronicle reports that a major earthquake may hit the San Francisco Bay Area within the next 30 years. This year marks the 102nd anniversary of the 1906 earthquake that struck San Francisco one fateful morning over a century ago. Fires ravaged the landscape of the city, ripping streets apart, demolishing buildings, and turning everything into rubble. Explore archival images of these dire events through photographs from the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection database. To begin, follow these instructions:

1. Go to the SFPL Home Page and select “Articles & Databases.”

2. Under the Categories side bar on the left, select “Images,” then “San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection.”

3. In the search box, enter the terms “san francisco 1906 earthquake.”

The results will display a list of photos matching your keywords. Click on the photos to enlarge the images. Get more information about each photo by clicking on "View Full Record."

The San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection contains over 250,000 historical photographs of scenes from San Francisco and California dating back to 1850. Photos include “street scenes, buildings, and neighborhoods, as well as photographs of famous San Francisco personalities.” You can search this collection by photo id number or photographer, and browse through a subject guide or neighborhood map.

You can also read the historical news articles of the 1906 earthquake. The Magazines & Newspapers Center has the entire run of the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner dating back to 1865 on microfilm.