When did the Earthquake Occur? The San Francisco earthquake occurred on April 18,1906 in the early morning hours at approximately 5:12 AM. Personal Experience? We’ll know be talking to a survivor of the Earthquake. William Smith, 45 years old male survivor. William Smith “The sun was starting to rise. While I was getting ready to go to work. All of Sudden, my apartment shook for 20 seconds and then stopped. Then about 10 minutes later, the building starts to shake simultaneously. I run outside and about 5 minutes later the building collapses. So when i go outside and look around all i see is bricks, steel poles and a raging fire. When i tried looking for my friends, i saw people beneath cement blocks, steel poles and bricks. When I look