Title: SFFD engine with water pump running under full steam. -- The Hansen Collection -- 19060150.jpg

Owning Institution: The Museum of the City of San Francisco

Description: The men of the San Francisco Fire Department engine companies counted themselves lucky whenever they were fortunate enough to find water, both for the steam engines of their pumps and to put out fires. In desperation, the firefighters pumped seawater from the Bay, but still needed fresh water for their boilers.

Title: Witnesses to a fate that awaits them as well. -- The Hansen Collection -- 19060151.jpg

Owning Institution: The Museum of the City of San Francisco

Description: People watch the progress of the fire that will soon consume this flank of Nob Hill. In the distance, one can see a double cordon of soldiers keeping people back from the flames. To the side, the debris of a building’s façade lies in the street, its rooms now exposed to public view. This kind of damage was typical of wooden buildings incorporating a brick front. Wood and masonry reacted differently to the motions of a tremor, with the swaying wood acting as battering ram against the building’s brick face.

Title: Sidewalks and curbs damaged by the liquefaction caused by the 1906 earthquake. -- The Hansen Collection -- 19060157.jpg

Owning Institution: The Museum of the City of San Francisco

Description: Sidewalks and curbs damaged by the liquefaction caused by the 1906 earthquake.

Title: Refugees at Union Square. -- The Hansen Collection -- 19060158.jpg

Owning Institution: The Museum of the City of San Francisco

Description: The park at Union Square was swarming with refugees within a couple hours of the quake. Union Square itself would go up in flames late in the evening of the first day.

Title: Disaster tourists -- The Hansen Collection -- 19060159.jpg

Owning Institution: The Museum of the City of San Francisco

Description: Countless tourists swarmed over the ruined city after the disaster, taking photographs by the tens of thousands.

Title: Watching out for malefactors. -- The Hansen Collection -- 19060160.jpg

Owning Institution: The Museum of the City of San Francisco

Description: These soldiers are standing guard in what appears to be San Franicsco's Western Addition, which suffered relatively little damage in the disaster.

Title: Soldiers waiting to be assigned their postings. -- The Hansen Collection -- 19060161.jpg

Owning Institution: The Museum of the City of San Francisco

Description: For days after the disaster, soldiers continued to come into San Francisco from other Army bases in the Western States. They performed patrol work and assisted thousands of refugees in the homeless camps

Title: Smashed hyrant spouting a gusher. -- The Hansen Collection -- 19060162.jpg

Owning Institution: The Museum of the City of San Francisco

Description: A hydrant damaged in the earthquake hemorrhages its precious water. This was a common scene in the city during the disaster.

Title: Digging for hastily buried victims. -- The Hansen Collection -- 19060163.jpg

Owning Institution: The Museum of the City of San Francisco

Description: This photograph appears to show the digging for bodies in one of the many parks used as temporary cementaries during the disaster.

Title: Returning refugees and tourists. -- The Hansen Collection -- 19060164.jpg

Owning Institution: The Museum of the City of San Francisco

Description: The thousands who escaped San Francisco to Oakland returned to find their city in ruins. They were accompanied on the west-bound ferries by tourists eager to see this once-in-a-lifetime sight.