The quake was capable of igniting raging fires, which broke out in the city and lasted for several days. The flames were quick to spread due to electrical lines and ruptured gas lines. It is estimated that up to 90% of the total damage was the result of the subsequent fires that burned uncontrollably (1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire).
San Francisco was utterly destroyed. Around fifty different fires began fuming in San Francisco, and eventually coalesced into a grand firestorm that consumed on the first day all of the central business district, down along Market Street, and later spread to the north and west within the following days. The city was almost completely destroyed, leaving a tragic scene of utter annihilation (Earthquake:
San Francisco was utterly destroyed. Around fifty different fires began fuming in San Francisco, and eventually coalesced into a grand firestorm that consumed on the first day all of the central business district, down along Market Street, and later spread to the north and west within the following days. The city was almost completely destroyed, leaving a tragic scene of utter annihilation (Earthquake: