Though there are many little, almost unnoticeable earthquakes that

happen all the time, there are also major ones that destroy vast areas and

take many lives. Two of them happened here, in the United States, very

close to each other. Both of them very destructive and had major impacts on

society. These types of earthquakes are life changing, usually not for the

better. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1989 Loma Prieta

earthquake are two of these majorly destructive earthquakes. Though these

quakes are both very different, they also have many surprising similarities.

First off, these earthquakes are similar in some ways that you may not

have known. Both of these powerful earthquakes happened in California. This

is because the fault line, on which both the earthquakes occurred, runs

across different parts of California. The name of this fault line is the San

Andreas Fault line. Most earthquakes in the United States tend to occur in

California, and are caused by the San Andreas Fault line. The epicenter for

both of these earthquakes was the Northern segment of the San Andreas

Fault line. This segment runs from Hollister, through the Santa Cruz

Mountains. Both of these even though caused major damage, lasted under a

minute. Both of these earthquakes also had subsequent fires.

The San Francisco earthquake and the Loma Prieta earthquake have

may differences, along with the obvious ones like the date and location,

there are also some not as well-know differences. Obviously, the dates are

different, the San Francisco earthquake happened in 1906, and the Loma
Prieta Earthquake happened in 1989. Even though they both happened on

the same fault, their magnitudes are different. The San Francisco earthquake

was around a 7.7- 8.25 magnitude, but the Loma Prieta earthquake was

weaker, at about 7.1. Along with the strength of the earthquakes, the

number of people killed was also different. In the San Francisco earthquake,

over 3,000 people were killed and about 225,000 injured. In the Loma Prieta

earthquake, only about 63 people were killed, and about 3,757 injured. Both

earthquakes toppled buildings and houses, but the San Francisco earthquake

might have taken a little less money to repair. It took 6.5 billion dollars to

make repairs for the San Francisco quake, and around 7 billion dollars to

repair the Loma Prieta quake.

Both of these earthquakes are horrible disasters. They destroyed many

houses, properties, buildings and lives. These were very life changing events

to anyone that was in either one of them or that had family in them. It was

very costly to pay for the repairs that were to be made due to the damage.

But, there is also some good that came out of this. Now scientists have more

education about how to build earthquake proof buildings and bridges. It

taught people how to be prepared when there is a major earthquake; you

can never be too prepared.

1906 San Francisco Earthquake

Wikipedia

Accessed: Dec 11, 2009

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_San_Francisco_earthquake>

The San Francisco Earthquake 1907

Accessed: Dec 11, 2009 <http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/sfeq.htm>

1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire

Zpub

Accessed: Dec 11, 2009 <http://www.zpub.com/sf/history/1906earth.html>

1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake

Wikipedia

Accessed: Dec. 11, 2009

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Loma_Prieta_earthquake>

The October 17, 1989, Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake

USGS
Accessed: Dec. 11, 2009 <http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-29/>