Introduction
The earthquake
that struck at 5:14 a.m. on April 18, 1906, was felt from Coos
Bay, Oregon, to Los Angeles and into eastern Nevada.
Destruction was unleashed unevenly throughout California from
Fresno to Eureka within thirty miles on either side of the
newly named San Andreas Fault. People all around the San
Francisco Bay felt the quake, but their experiences were
remarkably different. Some sensed only mild shaking; others
witnessed complete devastation. For tens of thousands, it
would be the last time they awoke in their own beds in their
own homes.
To date, no
book has told the story of the city of Berkeley's experience
during and after the earthquake, or of its response to the
thousands of refugees who poured into Berkeley seeking relief
from the ravages thrust upon San Francisco by the quake and
subsequent fire.
Compared with
the earthquake's impact in San Francisco, Berkeley was only
moderately rattled. Almost every chimney was knocked down.
Many buildings were damaged, and a few were destroyed.
Collapsed chimneys, dislodged electrical wires, and flammable
substances thrown from shelves ignited fires, but Berkeley
firefighters, working efficiently with a plentiful water
supply, were able to squelch the flames before they could
spread from building to building and engulf sections of town.
In the absense of functioning power and telegraph lines,
(two-way phones were not a reality yet in Berkeley), Berkeley
residents had to ask their neighbors for news of the extent of
the disaster. Most stood outside their homes quietly talking
about what had occurred and wondering how bad the situation
was elsewhere. As they looked west, however, they could see
huge, broad plumes of black smoke rising above sections of San
Francisco forming massive black clouds slowly drifting towards
them by a gentle morning breeze.
This sudden
firestorm, not the damage from the earthquake, was what
ultimately destroyed so much of the city. Along with the
spreading flames and choking smoke, San Franciscans were
assaulted by dust from collapsed buildings, the sight of dead
bodies, and the nearly overwhelming chaos and panic. When word
spread that Berkeley and other East Bay towns were safe
havens, they fled to ferry terminals and train stations,
seeking a way across the bay.
Within hours of
the quake, before the San Francisco refugees arrived in
numbers, Berkeley residents came together and began to prepare
for what would be an unprecedented wave of stricken, exhausted
refugees. Berkeley's relief assistance was notable for a
number of reasons. It was conceived and run by ordinary
citizen volunteers who did not wait for the government to take
the initiative. Their efforts were extraordinarily well
organized and took advantage of scientific and military
principles and procedures that many Berkeley residents had
backrounds in. The entire town&emdash;individuals,
businesses, fraternal and religious organizations, and the
university&emdash;mobilized in a concerted way and opened
their homes and financial resources, along with their hearts,
to the refugees.
The relief
effort lasted only about ten weeks. By the time it was over,
refugees had established themselves as new Berkeley residents,
found homes or employment elsewhere, or returned to San
Francisco. Despite the brevity of the relief period, it had a
lasting impact on both Berkeley and San Francisco. The story
of both the refugees who fled to Berkeley and the Berkeleyans
who met them with open arms has been neglected by history.
Earthquake Exodus, 1906 tells their story, accompanied by many
photographs, a number of them published for the first time. My
hope is that this book not only offers insight about
Berkeley's and San Francisco refugee's experience of the 1906
earthquake, but also inspires us to react to future tragedies
with the same compassion and determination displayed by
citizens a century ago.
Richard Schwartz
