1906: The San Francisco Earthquake

Improved Essays
Natural disasters take thousands of innocent lives every year, and the San Francisco earthquake in 1906 only added to this growing number. On April 18th 1906 more than 1,000 casualties were seen, more than 400 million dollars lost and over 225,000 people became homeless. In one day. It’s safe to say these few terrible minutes may have ruined the lives of these people forever. During this earthquake, many people recorded their personal experiences and those of the people around them, some of which are still around today. Personal narratives like this include, “Comprehending the Calamity” by Emma Burke and “Horrific Wreck of the City” by Fred Hewitt which both accounts about the horrific earthquake and their personal thoughts about it, however one of the accounts is optimistic while the other is more pessimistic.

The earthquake in 1906 caused many different reactions from the public that witnessed it. These two first hand accounts show the reader how the author reacts to the earthquake. Both texts describe how terrible the earthquake was, and both authors show some sort of faith in God during their accounts. Both texts mention how nothing can really describe the terror that rolled through the city. Fred Hewitt says, “No pen of the most powerful description the world ever saw could ever place on paper the impression of any one of the hundreds of thousands who felt the mighty tremble.” (pg.1 para 1) Similarly, Emma Burke describes the earthquake
…show more content…
So although the earthquake was this devastating event that hurt so many, maybe in a way, it helped us. Helped us to see the good and the faults of the people around us and of ourselves, and helped us to remember the importance of

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Our world has suffered many tragic events. All of which have been broadcasted worldwide. Hurricane Sandy was one of many tragic events broadcasted on the news. Hurricane Sandy impacted my life when I saw it on the news. I It shined a light on how humanity comes together in times of need.…

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Following the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, Chris Rose through his book 1 Dead in Attic discusses the life in New Orleans, and the peoples attitude towards life. Unlike many unfortunate individuals, Rose was one of the lucky ones who's home and belongings were not destroyed, after the hurricane. Unfortunately, not all individuals and families in New Orleans had the same fortune . Many were left homeless, starving, and with the loss of their loved ones. Much of what occurred after Hurricane Katrina in the city of New Orleans as described by Rose is astonishing.…

    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the world that we live in, there is often upsets in our lives and in the lives around us. Being that we are all a part of one society, everything that happens to one society happens to every other society as well. In the article, " The Earth is Cruel", by Leonard Pitts, he goes on to discuss all of the horrible things that occur in Haiti, and how they are still able to stand back up on their feet and move forward with their lives. In this article, I believe that there is one central theme that sticks out to me. The theme in this article "Sometimes the Earth is Cruel", happens to be faith.…

    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Young children are exceptionally impressionable. They copy their peers, parents, and siblings to learn everything they do. They have overreactions to simple challenges because they have not yet learned how to behave. For a child who experiences a tragedy, the influence can be devastating, and something they can carry with them for their whole lives. Steven Church’s narrative essay “I’m Just Getting to the Disturbing Part” demonstrates human reactions toward a disaster, while expressing the author’s firsthand experience to a tragedy he witnessed as a child by using an ominous text throughout his story.…

    • 435 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Hurricane Force Summary

    • 182 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Treaster, Joseph. (2007). Hurricane force: Tracking America’s killer storms. New York, NY: Kingsfisher. The author shares his personal accounts of hurricane Katrina. The storm starts off the coast of North Africa.…

    • 182 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Stand Your Ground Summary

    • 1340 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Samir Jhajj Mrs. Michielin ENG 1D0-H October 15, 2014. Independent Study Unit Task One: Eric Roberts Walters was born on March 3, 1957 in Toronto, Ontario. Eric studied at York University and when he was finished from university, he started to teach at a public school in Streetsville, Ontario in 1993. His class were not good readers or writers, but the way Mr. Walters made them better was by writing his first book called Stand Your Ground. After writing this book, Mr. Walters’ class enjoyed reading this book and so did the community.…

    • 1340 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jacqueline Adams and Ken Kostel's "The Super Disasters of the 21st century" and Sebastian Junger's "The Perfect Storm" describe the causes and effects of natural disasters. Both authors use similar and different strategies and techniques to describe the causes and effects of super disasters. Each author used text structure, choice of vocabulary, and the use of data and details to help the readers better understand the causes and effects of natural disasters. Jacqueline Adams and Ken Kostel in "The Super Disasters of the 21st century", use subheadings and rhetorical questions to describe the causes and effects of 3 deadly natural disasters. The authors use subheadings to categorize the article and to make readers want to read it.…

    • 858 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Even if they would have said a huge earthquake was coming, everyone would have been in panic mode and when the earthquake never arrived the six seismologist and the government employee would have still the people mad at them. When the earthquake hit in the morning time of April 9th, nobody was really prepared for the catastrophe it was going to make. More than 300 people were killed by the earthquake and thousands were injured. Even some historic buildings were left in shamble. Of course, the people were extremely upset with the seismologist because the people thought the seismologist did not know how to do there job.…

    • 437 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “W-Where am I? Oh, I just slept on my bed sideways.” I groggily got out of bed and ate breakfast. The day went by normally. When I got home from school, my whole family was gathered in the living room.…

    • 1015 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    (Paragraph 15). (https://www.sftourismtips.com /san-francisco-1906-earthquake.html). In the eyewitness accounts, “Comprehending the Calamity” by Emma Burke, and “Horrific Wreck of the City” by Fred Hewitt, both authors share similarities of how they face the unfortunate events and how they survived with the limited resources they have. On page 3, an example from “Comprehending the Calamity” states: “I walked over the remains of my personal possessions, without a feeling of regret or a sigh or tear.…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 Jason L Cook (4097527) American Public University System May 24, 2015 HIST102: American History Since 1877 Professor Robert Young The earthquake of 1906, although only lasting less than a minute caused an extensive amount of personnel and property damage not only from the quake, but the fires that followed. Many of the citizen affected by the incident refused to leave the city creating additional chaos. Rebuilding began almost immediately and within three years restored as the economic hub of the west. The catastrophe caused more property damage than any other in the United States having a large financial and economic impact.…

    • 775 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Joplin Tornado Summary

    • 381 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The main idea of the articles is that the Joplin tornado was very traumatizing and scary for the people who survived it. A storm chaser named Jeff Piotrowski videoed the Joplin tornado and had to help lots of people out of the rubble, dead and alive. He said that it was like that house after house for three hours straight. He also said it was very traumatizing and you can’t just understand or make up how traumatizing it was.…

    • 381 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On April 18,1906, the city of San Francisco experienced an earthquake known as “The Great Quake” leaving thousands of people hurt and/or dead. Due to the severe damage the earthquake had on the city, it left many homes destroyed. Much of the damaged resulted in people being homeless. Geologist have observed the impact that the earthquake left on San Francisco and the people. Since then, scientist have suggested what precautions we can do to help prevent severe damage to us and homes.…

    • 1063 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Striking early in the morning, the "Great Quake" of 1906 left more than 80 percent of the city damaged from the quake itself and from fires (Morrison). In the recent years, California has not experienced any fatal shakes, but residents are always urged to be…

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The San Francisco earthquake in 1906 was almost completely destroyed San Francisco. Buildings collapsed, fires were spread, and the city was left in shock and devastation. Mark Twain and Jack London each wrote an essay on the San Francisco earthquake describing the events that took place during, and after the earthquake; however, they each took a different approach stylistically on writing the essays. Mark Twain’s essay on the San Francisco earthquake was written to be humorous and was more specific in the events that took place. London’s essay was more serious, had a darker tone, and was written to replicate the true darkness of the earthquake.…

    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays