The quake lasted under a minute; the fire it triggered burned for three days

The 1906 San Francisco earthquake ruptured nearly 300 miles of the San Andreas Fault and shook the city for roughly 45 to 60 seconds, but most of the destruction came after: broken gas lines sparked fires that firefighters, lacking water from shattered mains, often fought by dynamiting firebreaks instead. The combined disaster killed an estimated 3,000 people and left half the city's population homeless.

— United States Geological Survey, 1906 San Francisco Earthquake — struck 18 April 1906