Dan Kurzman talked about the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906. The San Francisco earthquake occurred on April 18, 1906, which destroyed three-quarters of the city and left 300,000 people homeless. The earthquake measured 8.3 on the Richter scale, one of the strongest in U.S. history. Mr. Kurzman told the stories of several San Franciscans, their struggles after the quake and their eventual fates. He said firemen had no way to extinguish the fires that burned for three days because all the water mains had been destroyed. He also talked about peripheral events that resulted from the disaster, including the spread of the bubonic plague by rats and soldiers who killed some 500 suspected looters, some whom were innocent. Following his remarks, he answered questions from the audience.

Dan Kruzman is the author of Disaster!: The Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906, published by William Morrow.