California is one of the most earthquake prone states in the U.S. Due to the state being on a fault line, it is constantly subjected to earthquakes whether they be mild or intense, which constantly puts the cities that lay on the fault line or are near it at risk. The earthquake described in Mark Twain's’ essay “The San Francisco Earthquake” is a rather “hysterical event” to Twain. He sees it as a miniscule or petite quake, where as others see it as a more drastic event. Twain's’ essay argues that the people's reaction (particularly the higher class) to the earthquake was rather excessive. He uses the higher class to exhibit these reactions because they have a more of an “inexperienced” response. For example “A prominent editor flew