1906 centennial logo

Centennial of 1906

April 18, 2006 is the centennial of the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the following fires! This offers us an opportunity to commemorate the event, discuss what we have learned since, and to celebrate the progress we've made toward reducing earthquake losses. Many Bay Area organizations plan to mark this anniversary. They have joined to form the '06 Earthquake Centennial Alliance, which diseminates information on activities and exhibitions related to the earthquake.

Although there was no major damage at UC Berkeley, the 1906 earthquake did touch the campus community. Refugee camps were established on the campus and the University cadets were dispatched to help maintain order in San Francisco (Chronicle of the University of California). UC Berkeley Professor Andrew Lawson chaired the State Earthquake Investigation Commission. Under his leadership, this commission produced the first, comprehensive, government-comissioned report on an earthquake.

In the 100 years since the 1906 earthquake and fire members of the University community have continued to contribute to our understanding of earthquakes and their effects on our environment, as well as our ability to prepare for them.

Berkeleyan Article on 1906 Commemoration

The UC Berkeley calendar is beginning to fill with activities to commemorate the earthquake's centennial.

January 17 - March 31
1906: The Great Quake, the History of a Disaster

In the Bernice Layne Brown Gallery of the Doe Library. One hunderd years after the 1906 earthquake devastated the city of San Francisco, this centennial exhibition provides a historical look at this "earth-shaking" event in California. The effects on the city and surrounding areas are explored through manuscripts, photographs, prints, books and ephemera from The Bancroft Library's collections. Documentation from the massive relief effort after the disaster demonstrates its significance to rebuilding the city and is also highlighted in this exhibit. For this anniversary, the Bancroft Library has also prepared a Digital Collection and Website.
February 1, February 15, March 1, March 15
A The Quake'06 Lecture Series

The lectures in this series are free and open to the public. The three Fall 2005 lectures described the earthquake's effect on the city's buildings and infrastructure, as well as how the people experienced it. In the months leading up April 18, 2006, 5 more lectures at UC Berkeley and at at Stanford will present what we have learned about preparing for earthquakes in the century since. Sponsored by the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory, the Chancellor and the Vice Chancellor for Research and the Bancroft Library.
April 6 through 9
65 Seconds That Shook the Earth: Commemorating the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake at the Pacific Film Archive

This April marks the hundredth year since the Bay Area was clobbered by a devastating quake along the San Andreas Fault. To mark this centenary milestone, Pacific Film Archive presents a weekend-long film series with a wallop, five faulty programs guaranteed to shake you up. Look for Earthquake, the first Sensurround film with enough bass to meet your bottom line; an illustrated lecture by Gray Brechin about the 1906 destruction, with archival newsreels galore; John Wayne wandering the ruins of the Barbary Coast; and the late-fifties disaster flick The Night the World Exploded, with an on-site seismologist to tell us about its unsound science. We hope you'll be not just shaken but stirred.
UC Berkeley 2006 Planning Group internal Web page
Participating Units:

Interested members of the UC Berkeley community are invited to join in the planning process. The next meeting is scheduled for Jan 18, 2006 from 1-2 PM in the conference room of the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory - 220 McCone Hall.

Ideas for centennial activities include new classes, public lecture series, symposia, displays on the progress of the SAFER program, exhibits of 1906 artifacts and photographs, film series, walking tours, and many others. Plans are underway for many of these events.

For more information, please contact us!

www@seismo.berkeley.edu