San Francisco suffered a magnitude 7.9 earthquake in 1906 which caused significant damage. However it should be noted that the devastation was mainly caused by fires after the earthquake.
The 1906 San Francisco earthquake was devastating for the city, as it caused widespread fires and killed many people. A rupture in the San Andreas Fault was responsible for the quake.
The 1906 earthquake in San Francisco happened at 5:00 am in the morning. The earthquake registered 7.7 on the Richter Scale and killed more than 3,000 people.
The San Fransisco earthquake ocurred due to movement along the fault that the city rests upon; the San Andreas fault. A plate movement caused a large earthquake, which fires resulted from.