They were shaken awake into a nightmare. The earthquake that rocked San Francisco on April 18, 1906, lasted just forty-seven seconds. But it was powerful—thirty times stronger and more devastating than the modern-day quake of 1989. Wooden houses collapsed, tall buildings crumbled, and streets heaved and buckled. Gas shooting out of broken pipes was ignited by smoldering embers from toppled coal stoves. Cracked water mains left firefighters helpless. Before long, San Francisco was a raging firestorm.

San Franciscans became refugees in their own city. Grabbing whatever they could carry, they fled to the parks and open areas to escape dangerously unstable buildings. Rich and poor alike lost everything as the inferno consumed their homes.

Now, one of the most famous natural disasters in American history is brought to life through the eyes of four young survivors. Their eyewitness accounts capture the great losses and small miracles, the awful suffering and awesome heroics that make up the unforgettable story of the Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906. Complementing the text are detailed paintings, historic photographs, artifacts, pictorial maps, diagrams, and informative sidebars and features.

From the dust jacket