Happy Earthquake Day!

100 years ago today the great quake of 1906 shook San Francisco at 5:13 am. I just got in from a celebration that is still going on - thousands of San Franciscans are on Market street at Lotta's fountain to commemorate the day. It was truly a great reason to get up at four this morning - the mayor interviewed twelve survivors - the youngest at 99 years old (she say's she was a product of the earthquake - concieved in the cold tent that her parents lived in during the rebuilding) the oldest was 111 years old. It was cold out - but a very special morning. The fountain by the way, is where the families of survivors met up and checked in to let everyone know they were alright. It was the only landmark on Market street that remained after the quake and fire, and still works to this very day. I have never seen it with water working...until this morning.

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Haha! As I was leaving to come home - Val Diamond from Beach Blanket Babylon was just starting to belt that out Glebb!

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Such a great city! I loved my time there...

100 years. Wow!!

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Enrico Caruso was so terrified of that day, he never went back...

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We should never forget...

and when folks are griping about city regs, building codes, etc. etc., we should just see what happens when a 5.6 hits the near east and 145,000 perish, yet when a 7.1 hits Seattle, it's all about 110 year old chimneys falling and a highway that has to be closed when it cracks open four inches...

San Francisco is a pretty lady who stands proud ond strong from her experiences!

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SueleenGay ~ my thoughts exactly. Actually, as a Californian who has been through several quakes I don't get the "celebration" at all.

I do live in L.A.

I'm sure that the celebration is done with tact and honors the victims. The concept in writing sounds a little odd to me but I'm glad you had a great time.

Noone said you were wrong in your thinking. Life is absolutely something to be celebrated. Like I said, I'm sure it was done with class as the survivors who joined in seemed eager and happy to participate. I can't help it if it struck me odd at first. Maybe it was the title "Happy Earthquake Day"... HA HA

the title was a bit, um.....odd, but the sentiment is not. This needs to be remembered, as it's the largest natural disaster in North American (recorded) history.
Soon, as with the Titanic and Holocaust, there will be no living survivors, and how wonderful there are living first person accounts.

I was watching a show on this last night, maybe PBS, and it had survivors speaking......and I realized the interviews had to have been done at least twenty years ago, as these people would have to be near 106 years old, and they weren't......the stories were amazing.

Californians take earthquakes today for granted.....there were so many when I was a child in San Jose, lived in SF in the mid 90's, and down here too, that when a big one does happen where I live it will be a shock.

But one is coming, and the devastation (if in a populated area)will be horrible........

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