It occurred at 5:13am. It was a force 8 on the Richter scale. Hundreds were killed. It was caused by a slip on the San Andreas Fault.

The brick and wooden structures were hit hardest and, when the fires broke out, no firefighters could hose them with water because the water mains broke.

A dusk to dawn curfew was imposed with a shoot to kill policy to stop looting.

The city suffered a number of serious after shocks.

All the fires were put out by 23rd April, but 3000 were dead, 30,000 buildings destroyed.