VIDEO: April 18, 2026, was the 120th anniversary of the great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, memorialized and remembered at 5:14 a.m., the exact time when the earthquake struck.
Proceeded by a foreshock, the magnitude of the incident, which occurred before monitoring and scaling became standardized, is often debated as a 7.7 to 8.3 magnitude event lasting 42 seconds. Perhaps most remarkable, it was reportedly felt from Los Angeles to Oregon to central Nevada. The earthquake occurred on the San Andreas fault, impacting some 280 miles of the fault line and impacting multiple communities.
Over the years, fatality estimates have been revised for the entire region. It is now believed that some 3000 people were killed, placing this earthquake in the top 10 most catastrophic, deadliest and destructive events in the nation, slightly above the 2,974 victims of the 9/11 who died in the terrorist attacks on New York City in 2001.
While San Mateo County miraculously reported no fatalities, it did sustain significant damage to many structures. Locally, in Menlo Park and Atherton, significant and major structural damage and collapse was visible at Saint Patrick’s Seminary, Sacred Heart School and Duff and Doyle’s Mercantile Emporium Store, but fortunately all were spared from fire, despite being heavily damaged.
InMenlo
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