San Francisco was forever changed 116 years ago Monday by a natural disaster of unimaginable proportions.
Dozens of first responders gathered in San Francisco early Monday morning to mark the anniversary of the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.
A 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck the city, on April 18 1906, at 5:12 a.m., igniting a series of fires which burned 80% of the city and resulting in 3,000 deaths.
Monday's anniversary commemoration was held at Lotta's Fountain, the same location where survivors gathered after the destruction over a century ago. As they do almost every year, San Francisco Firefighters marked the exact moment the quake struck with sirens which symbolized the shaking and fires that virtually destroyed the City by the Bay.
City officials, including Mayor London Breed, spoke at the memorial, with many making comparisons between that catastrophe and the pandemic.
"We're seeing one of the highest vaccination rates (in the country). We're seeing our city reopen and come alive again. We are stepping up and putting back the pieces just as we did in 1906," she said.
San Francisco Emergency Management Director Mary Ellen Carroll said thousands of city employees have been trained as disaster workers.
"I am more confident than ever that no matter what befalls us here in the city, that we will be okay and that we will rise," Carroll said.
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