A Crack in the Edge of the World

What better book to read while on a trip to San Francisco than this one? A Crack in the Edge of the World tells the tale of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire. The fires that started just shortly after the earthquake exacerbated the devastation the earthquake created. It took three days for the fires to be completely put out. By that time, all of Chinatown and much of San Francisco was in rubble and ashes.

It's a little scary to read a book about an awful earthquake while visiting the site of the earthquake, reading expert opinion that there is a 65% probability that another terrible earthquake will hit San Francisco before 2032.

1906 a terrible year seismically - earthquakes everywhereonce the sticking point gave away, the plates moved at TWO MILES PER SECOND past each other!
scientists of the time ignored or didn't understand seismographical data (seismographs were very primitive) and mislabeled the epicenter for many years.only 3-10% of damage to buildings was actually due to the earthquake; the fire did the rest
*Pentecostal movement got an initial boost (San Francisco suffering the WRATH OF GOD for its SINFUL WAYS!) from which it has never looked back.