1906 Earthquake Research Paper

Effects of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake

Could you imagine if you lost everything you have ever worked for your whole life? After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake struck, many people lost everything they had. Over 3,000 people were left dead with a crashing economy, a city full of complete devastation, and years that it would take to try and rebuild the city. Even though the later effects of the earthquake brought people together, the immediate effects broke families apart. The reason is because so many people lost family members and friends. One of the only positive outcomes that arose after the earthquake was the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition being held in San Francisco. This event brought remembrance to the incident,

“After extensive research, estimated that over 3,000 deaths were caused directly or indirectly by the catastrophe. The population of San Francisco at the time was about 400,000” (Bonilla). California was, and is now the currently most populated state in the United States. San Francisco was the largest city on the West Coast and was the most popular location for Western Migration. This is one of the reasons why California is so heavy populated making the results of the earthquake even more disastrous. There are several incidents that caused the death of 3,000 people, but all resulted from the earthquake. Some people died from smoke inhalation, falling debris, and disease. The disease was brought from the falling rubble and standing water that was left after the earthquake. People were not only effected physically, but they also suffered mentally. Families lost loved ones, friends, and co-workers. Tragedy and destruction

The only difference was this was a positive effect. “The Panama–Pacific International Exposition (PPIE) was a world's fair held in San Francisco, in the United States, between February 20 and December 4 in 1915” (Ackley). The Panama-Pacific international exposition has been held in many different places, but in 1915 it was held in San Francisco. The people felt as if they needed to honor what had happened. Many people lost their lives and homes and others needed to know about it and try to help them. “For nine months in 1915, the Presidio's bay front and much of today's Marina District was the site of a grand celebration of human spirit and ingenuity. Hosted to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, the Panama-Pacific International Exposition reflected the ascendancy of the United States to the world stage and was a milestone in San Francisco history” (Bowen). The world fair was brought to San Francisco to draw attention to the situation of what had happened. By doing so, many people learned about the struggles people went through and now celebrated the city being rebuilt. Many people do not realize how serious the results of the earthquake was. It not only effected people physically, but the earthquake also effected people mentally. After witnessing the results many people began to lose the only thing they had left, hope. The world fair was a positive