100 year anniv. of the great quake

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http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/04/18/MNGP5IAU4K6.DTL

 

The Great Quake: 1906-2006

Thousands in SF celebrate, mourn quake's 100th anniversary

Carl Nolte and Pat Yollin, Chronicle Staff Writers

 

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

 

 

 

Series main page

 

Rising from the Ashes:

 

Thousands celebrate 100th anniversary

 

With little time to plan, leaders start rebuilding

 

What, exactly, is history trying to tell us?

 

As with Katrina, federal role caused discord

 

If another 7.9 temblor strikes, the toll would be worse

 

Earthquake diary of an Australian immigrant

 

Few Californians worry about quake hazards, poll finds

 

Slide show: Rising from the Ashes

 

Photo gallery: S.F. Then and Now

 

Reconstruction photo gallery

 

 

 

(04-18) 08:07 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco celebrated and mourned an

infamous anniversary early this morning, 100 years to the minute after the city

shook and burned in the great earthquake and fire of 1906.

 

In the pre-dawn hours, thousands packed downtown streets around Lotta's

Fountain, glowing gold under the television lights on Market Street, to honor

the people who died in the 40-second quake and rejoice in a city that survived

and thrived after a fire burned for three days.

 

There were about a dozen quake survivors, none under 100 years old. There were

politicians, history buffs, nostalgia junkies and babies. They wore top hats,

down parkas, yellow hardhats and Giants caps. Some brought a sense of history,

others a sense of occasion, dressing up in period costumes. They included

financier Warren Hellman, who honored his grandfather, I.W. Hellman, head of

Wells Fargo bank, by wearing only a nightshirt, as his grandfather would have at

the time of the quake, 5:12 a.m.

 

Three horse-drawn steam fire engines commemorated the firefighters who saved the

city.

 

The oldest person there was Chrissie Mortensen, 109, who remembered the smell of

smoke from a city in flames, and a cow running down California Street, its tail

straight up in the air.

 

The youngest, Norma Norwood, said she was " conceived in the park, " where her

parents joined thousands left homeless in the quake. " My parents snuggled to

keep warm, " Norwood said. " And when you snuggle, you have a baby. "

 

The earthquake, one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history, took the

lives of as many as 3,000 people, historians now say, and left 250,000 homeless

-- more than half of the city's 400,000 population.

 

Police Chief Heather Fong presented a purple heart to the family of San

Francisco police Officer Max Fenner, the only policeman killed in the quake, who

died when a building fell on him as he was trying to save a woman.

 

The great-grandmother of Ann-Marie Conroy, San Francisco's director of emergency

services, was killed in the fire that consumed much of the city following the

quake.

 

" Let's go out and have a good time -- the bars open at 6, " Conroy exhorted the

early morning crowd. " We should raise a toast to the incredible spirit of San

Francisco. "

 

Three blocks were closed to traffic for the celebration: Montgomery Street to

the east, Stockton Street to the west, and Market Street between them. And every

inch was packed with people anxious to get a glimpse of history -- and be part

of a once-in-a-lifetime event.

 

Bob Costello of San Francisco came dressed in a top hat and black overcoat. He

was a bit miffed because people kept approaching to ask if he was a survivor.

 

" I'm only 80! " replied Costello, whose mother was 8 years old at the time of the

quake and had to camp out on Twin Peaks. Costello is a member of Sons of the

Shake and has been coming to earthquake anniversaries every year since 1974.

 

Others in the crowd called themselves " Lotta's Fountain virgins, " meaning it was

the first time they had come to the Market Street fountain that served as a

communication center for families and friends separated during the quake. Ever

since, the location has been the site of quake anniversary celebrations.

 

Barbara McCormick, 50, of San Francisco arose at 2:20 a.m. and came downtown

with a large group of people wearing yellow hardhats. They were a contingent

from NERT, the Neighborhood Emergency Response Team.

 

" It's the first time for a lot of these people, " she said. " We all figured it

was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. "

 

Roberto Isola, 44, of Daly City came dressed like Enrico Caruso, the famed tenor

who sang in the San Francisco Opera House just hours before it collapsed in the

quake. Carrying a cane, Isola wore a top hat, spats, an arrow collar, a white

vest and white gloves.

 

" I'm an enthusiast about history, " said Isola, who was born and raised in San

Francisco. " It's one of those things that's in you. "

 

Celebrations will be held throughout the day in San Francisco, including a

parade beginning at 10 a.m. in the Civic Center and winding up at noon in Justin

Herman Plaza.

 

 

You can bomb the world to pieces

You can't bomb it into peace