On April 18, 1906, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake shook buildings in San Francisco to the ground, breaking many of the pipes that carried water and gas in the city. Fires that started as a result of the earthquake raged for four days, leaving approximately half the city’s population homeless and destroying at least two-thirds of the built-up area, including the business district.
Because the earthquake and fire destroyed so much of the city, thousands of people scattered all over the Bay Area, and each person’s social geography shifted. Friends, family, and places of work were suddenly in different places. For people who did not own land, this relocation was possibly permanent. People updated each other with their new locations by telegram, if the telegraph was working, or mail, if they knew where to send the letters. Displaced people registered with newspapers and other groups to update people with their new location.
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