"Mysteries at the Museum" The Deadly 1906 Earthquake: A Mysteries at the Museum Special

1 00:00:01,992 --> 00:00:04,693 I'm going back to turn-of-the-century 2 00:00:04,762 --> 00:00:08,397 San Francisco to find out more about one of the worst 3 00:00:08,399 --> 00:00:11,667 natural disasters to ever strike North America. 4 00:00:11,736 --> 00:00:14,202 The earthquake of 1906 5 00:00:14,272 --> 00:00:17,172 set off a disastrous chain of events 6 00:00:17,174 --> 00:00:19,741 that ripped apart an entire city, 7 00:00:19,810 --> 00:00:23,045 leveling buildings and leaving ashes in their place. 8 00:00:23,047 --> 00:00:24,980 Put a fire out. 9 00:00:25,049 --> 00:00:26,982 Whoa! 10 00:00:26,984 --> 00:00:29,551 It was a force of nature so violent, 11 00:00:29,554 --> 00:00:32,488 it almost wiped the largest city on the West Coast 12 00:00:32,623 --> 00:00:34,756 off the map. 13 00:00:34,891 --> 00:00:37,860 So what have we learned from San Francisco's past 14 00:00:37,762 --> 00:00:40,162 to protect cities from future devastation 15 00:00:40,297 --> 00:00:42,431 and lives lost? 16 00:00:42,433 --> 00:00:44,733 This is nature at its most violent. 17 00:00:44,802 --> 00:00:47,236 And while this unimaginable tragedy happened 18 00:00:47,371 --> 00:00:50,639 over a century ago, one question still haunts us-- 19 00:00:50,608 --> 00:00:54,677 when and where will the next big one strike? 20 00:00:56,947 --> 00:00:59,481 This is a dangerous place I'm standing. Yes. 21 00:00:59,483 --> 00:01:01,450 I'm Don Wildman. 22 00:01:01,618 --> 00:01:03,885 I've explored the world's greatest mysteries, 23 00:01:04,021 --> 00:01:06,722 examined rare artifacts and epic monuments. 24 00:01:06,857 --> 00:01:08,456 That is unbelievable. 25 00:01:08,492 --> 00:01:10,526 Now, I'm digging deeper into some of the most 26 00:01:10,661 --> 00:01:13,528 perplexing and famous cases in history. 27 00:01:13,497 --> 00:01:16,231 My goal--to get closer to the truth. 28 00:01:16,366 --> 00:01:18,434 Let's burn this place down. Let's burn it down. 29 00:01:18,569 --> 00:01:21,970 On this special episode of "Mysteries at the Museum," 30 00:01:21,973 --> 00:01:25,374 the Deadly 1906 Earthquake. 31 00:01:32,583 --> 00:01:35,217 [bell dinging] 32 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,495 During the mid-1800s, San Francisco became 33 00:01:46,530 --> 00:01:49,898 home base for the Gold Rush, and people poured in 34 00:01:49,867 --> 00:01:52,034 by the tens of thousands. 35 00:01:52,169 --> 00:01:54,403 Its glistening harbor became the most important 36 00:01:54,405 --> 00:01:56,405 in the west for commerce. 37 00:01:56,407 --> 00:01:58,340 By 1906, 38 00:01:58,475 --> 00:02:01,242 San Francisco had emerged as a bustling city 39 00:02:01,178 --> 00:02:03,946 with nearly 400,000 residents. 40 00:02:03,948 --> 00:02:07,382 San Francisco was poised 41 00:02:07,518 --> 00:02:09,785 to become the Paris of the West, 42 00:02:09,920 --> 00:02:12,787 beckoning to those back East to come and make 43 00:02:12,823 --> 00:02:16,325 the long journey across the country and make this place their home. 44 00:02:16,327 --> 00:02:18,661 Its draw was an economy that was booming, 45 00:02:18,796 --> 00:02:21,663 and it was a haven for arts and culture. 46 00:02:21,666 --> 00:02:24,900 Those pioneers who'd made their way Westward 47 00:02:24,969 --> 00:02:27,903 finally realized the dream of land ownership 48 00:02:27,972 --> 00:02:30,839 and found the freedom to reinvent themselves. 49 00:02:30,808 --> 00:02:34,676 The promise of a prosperous century ahead gave rise 50 00:02:34,712 --> 00:02:37,813 to this city on the edge, but on April 18th, 51 00:02:37,882 --> 00:02:41,884 this flourishing metropolis was reduced to a pile of rubble. 52 00:02:53,030 --> 00:02:56,331 Just after 5 a.m., San Francisco was jolted awake 53 00:02:56,367 --> 00:02:59,634 by a magnitude 7.9 earthquake, 54 00:02:59,670 --> 00:03:02,838 a quake so violent 55 00:03:02,807 --> 00:03:05,340 it brought the entire city down. 56 00:03:05,476 --> 00:03:08,443 The wood-frame houses that had cropped up 57 00:03:08,479 --> 00:03:10,979 during the Gold Rush had collapsed. 58 00:03:11,048 --> 00:03:14,650 The newly built cable cars derailed. 59 00:03:14,785 --> 00:03:17,686 Everything that people had moved West for 60 00:03:17,821 --> 00:03:19,955 had been destroyed. 61 00:03:19,924 --> 00:03:22,090 In less than a minute, the city was facing 62 00:03:22,159 --> 00:03:24,860 $80 million in damages. 63 00:03:24,929 --> 00:03:28,530 Many of its residents were injured or dead. 64 00:03:28,599 --> 00:03:32,400 The sheer power of Mother Nature was enough to erase 65 00:03:32,536 --> 00:03:36,071 much of San Francisco and its promise of a better life. 66 00:03:36,073 --> 00:03:38,640 So what type of force 67 00:03:38,709 --> 00:03:41,009 can take an entire city down? 68 00:03:45,916 --> 00:03:48,450 I lived in California for years and experienced more than 69 00:03:48,419 --> 00:03:51,186 my fair share of small tremors and quakes. 70 00:03:51,222 --> 00:03:53,255 I mean, it's like the weather out here. 71 00:03:53,324 --> 00:03:56,325 But even so, it's impossible to really conceive 72 00:03:56,227 --> 00:03:59,361 of the power of a major earthquake until you're in one. 73 00:03:59,496 --> 00:04:02,964 I think a good place to understand this is to feel it for myself. 74 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:05,233 The Big Shaker 75 00:04:05,269 --> 00:04:07,703 can simulate different earthquake magnitudes. 76 00:04:07,705 --> 00:04:10,438 Here, I'll be able to experience the force 77 00:04:10,474 --> 00:04:13,308 of the 1906 quake firsthand. 78 00:04:13,377 --> 00:04:16,445 Trevyn Reese runs the simulator 79 00:04:16,580 --> 00:04:19,147 and helps to prepare people for an earthquake. 80 00:04:19,216 --> 00:04:22,250 So are you just a paranoid person, like, every day... 81 00:04:22,319 --> 00:04:24,285 I almost have to be, doing this every day. 82 00:04:24,321 --> 00:04:26,588 It's very important. So you can basically show me 83 00:04:26,590 --> 00:04:28,924 how this--this earthquake's gonna feel when it hits? 84 00:04:29,059 --> 00:04:30,492 Yes, we can. All right. 85 00:04:30,561 --> 00:04:32,994 We'll simulate up to an 8.0 earthquake. Okay. 86 00:04:33,030 --> 00:04:35,898 So the 1906 earthquake lasted 45 to 60 seconds. 87 00:04:35,900 --> 00:04:37,900 Wow, that is terrifying. 88 00:04:37,902 --> 00:04:40,769 But they didn't even know how powerful an earthquake it was. No. 89 00:04:40,771 --> 00:04:42,871 They didn't have the means to measure that, right? No, they did not. 90 00:04:42,940 --> 00:04:46,574 (Don) The ability to determine the power of an earthquake 91 00:04:46,544 --> 00:04:50,545 wasn't discovered until nearly 30 years after San Francisco's. 92 00:04:50,681 --> 00:04:54,082 In 1935, Charles Richter 93 00:04:54,218 --> 00:04:57,185 introduced the notion of earthquake magnitude. 94 00:04:57,188 --> 00:05:00,455 Richter's idea was to assign a number to quantify 95 00:05:00,491 --> 00:05:02,791 the size of an earthquake. 96 00:05:02,926 --> 00:05:06,695 By comparing land surveys from before and after the event, 97 00:05:06,830 --> 00:05:10,032 scientists were able to determine that in 1906, 98 00:05:10,167 --> 00:05:14,269 San Francisco experienced a magnitude 7.9. 99 00:05:19,043 --> 00:05:22,010 So the Richter scale measures force of the earthquake. 100 00:05:22,012 --> 00:05:23,946 What's the difference between the increments? 101 00:05:24,081 --> 00:05:27,215 Each point you go up is a ten times greater magnitude, 102 00:05:27,251 --> 00:05:31,286 and the 1906 earthquake is the equivalent of the force of an atomic bomb. 103 00:05:31,355 --> 00:05:34,056 7.9 is the same as a small atomic bomb. 104 00:05:34,191 --> 00:05:35,724 Insane! Yep. 105 00:05:35,859 --> 00:05:37,592 So I have a bad feeling about this right now. 106 00:05:37,595 --> 00:05:39,795 Find something sturdy to hold onto, 107 00:05:39,930 --> 00:05:42,698 and you should be okay. All right, all right, good. Well, let's do it. 108 00:05:42,700 --> 00:05:44,199 For ten seconds. Ten seconds. 109 00:05:44,201 --> 00:05:46,101 There it goes. 110 00:05:46,236 --> 00:05:48,203 Whoa, whoa...whoa. 111 00:05:51,442 --> 00:05:53,375 Oh, boy! 112 00:05:53,510 --> 00:05:55,543 Ay! Wow. 113 00:05:55,613 --> 00:05:58,847 Jesus, man, that's amazing! Yeah. 114 00:05:58,849 --> 00:06:01,383 So that's 7.9, but that feels... Yeah. 115 00:06:01,518 --> 00:06:04,619 That's freakin' crazy! The whole Earth is shaking. 116 00:06:04,688 --> 00:06:07,389 Yeah, that got my heart racing, too. Whoo! 117 00:06:09,092 --> 00:06:12,060 This was frightening even in a controlled setting. 118 00:06:12,062 --> 00:06:14,329 Imagine what it must have felt like that morning 119 00:06:14,398 --> 00:06:17,299 as San Franciscans endured nearly a minute 120 00:06:17,301 --> 00:06:19,601 of violent shaking. 121 00:06:19,570 --> 00:06:23,405 So what could possibly cause such widespread destruction? 122 00:06:23,540 --> 00:06:27,175 The answer lies 270 miles south of here, 123 00:06:27,211 --> 00:06:30,044 because what the city's earliest settlers 124 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:32,781 hadn't known was that they'd built this illustrious 125 00:06:32,850 --> 00:06:35,117 City by the Bay next to 126 00:06:35,252 --> 00:06:38,353 an 800-mile-long ticking time bomb. 127 00:06:41,892 --> 00:06:44,559 To fully understand the magnitude of the destruction, 128 00:06:44,695 --> 00:06:46,828 I need to get a good look at the culprit. 129 00:06:46,964 --> 00:06:50,032 The only way to really see it is from the air. 130 00:06:58,575 --> 00:07:00,609 We're heading to the Carrizo Plain, 131 00:07:00,744 --> 00:07:02,944 which is known for its unique rock formations 132 00:07:02,947 --> 00:07:05,080 and seismic activity. 133 00:07:07,618 --> 00:07:09,450 Here it is. 134 00:07:09,486 --> 00:07:11,320 The San Andreas Fault. 135 00:07:14,257 --> 00:07:16,825 That is unbelievable. 136 00:07:20,531 --> 00:07:23,098 The San Andreas Fault is the boundary between 137 00:07:23,100 --> 00:07:26,768 two of the seven plates that make up the outermost layer of the Earth. 138 00:07:26,804 --> 00:07:29,705 As these plates shift against each other, 139 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:33,809 the resulting pressures can lead to devastating earthquakes. 140 00:07:33,811 --> 00:07:37,512 If you want to know what it looks like 141 00:07:37,581 --> 00:07:40,282 when two plates come together, here it is. 142 00:07:47,391 --> 00:07:49,557 In just one year, the San Andreas Fault 143 00:07:49,626 --> 00:07:52,260 produces over 10,000 earthquakes, 144 00:07:52,329 --> 00:07:55,697 and the rocky hills along this area of the fault 145 00:07:55,699 --> 00:07:58,800 are the result of billions of earthquakes caused 146 00:07:58,836 --> 00:08:01,003 by these two plates colliding. 147 00:08:01,138 --> 00:08:03,871 So very rare that people actually get this kind of 148 00:08:03,907 --> 00:08:06,274 view of what we're talking about. 149 00:08:06,343 --> 00:08:09,878 Back in 1906, 150 00:08:10,013 --> 00:08:13,315 the San Andreas Fault slipped 32 feet, 151 00:08:13,317 --> 00:08:16,585 creating a force powerful enough to level San Francisco, 152 00:08:16,587 --> 00:08:19,887 and that was just in one area. 153 00:08:19,923 --> 00:08:23,157 Since this fault line is 800 miles long, 154 00:08:23,193 --> 00:08:25,794 many towns were settled along its path 155 00:08:25,929 --> 00:08:28,763 before anyone was truly aware of its danger. 156 00:08:28,832 --> 00:08:31,099 Wow, look at that thing! 157 00:08:31,135 --> 00:08:34,001 I mean, you really get the perspective 158 00:08:34,038 --> 00:08:37,139 on the sheer power and scope of Mother Nature. 159 00:08:44,081 --> 00:08:47,014 And the impact didn't end in 1906. 160 00:08:47,051 --> 00:08:48,950 Right now, 161 00:08:49,019 --> 00:08:50,952 the movement of the San Andreas Fault 162 00:08:51,021 --> 00:08:53,754 is reshaping the entire state of California. 163 00:08:53,791 --> 00:08:55,890 Consider this-- 164 00:08:55,959 --> 00:08:58,393 in a few million years, Los Angeles, 165 00:08:58,528 --> 00:09:01,997 380 miles south, will eventually sit 166 00:09:02,132 --> 00:09:04,666 across the bay, just a couple of miles 167 00:09:04,768 --> 00:09:07,001 to the west of San Francisco. 168 00:09:07,071 --> 00:09:09,938 To this day, the fault produces 169 00:09:09,940 --> 00:09:12,340 incredibly powerful tremors. 170 00:09:12,342 --> 00:09:14,809 We know it is capable of producing an earthquake 171 00:09:14,845 --> 00:09:17,545 strong enough to cripple an entire city, 172 00:09:17,581 --> 00:09:20,215 just as it did in 1906. 173 00:09:24,654 --> 00:09:27,555 So many families had been torn apart in an instant, 174 00:09:27,691 --> 00:09:29,891 falling victim to the quake, 175 00:09:29,893 --> 00:09:32,828 and for those who survived, the future was uncertain. 176 00:09:32,963 --> 00:09:36,864 Because the violent shaking was only the beginning. 177 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:40,602 The earthquake's biggest killer was yet to come. 178 00:09:40,504 --> 00:09:43,338 [flames crackling] 179 00:09:53,250 --> 00:09:56,317 In 1906, an earthquake destroyed 180 00:09:56,253 --> 00:09:58,453 much of the city of San Francisco 181 00:09:58,455 --> 00:10:00,855 in just 50 seconds, 182 00:10:00,891 --> 00:10:04,492 but the devastation was only just beginning. 183 00:10:04,628 --> 00:10:07,896 What happened next turned an already dangerous situation 184 00:10:08,031 --> 00:10:11,266 into one of history's most notorious tragedies. 185 00:10:14,604 --> 00:10:16,705 Violent tremors wreaked havoc 186 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:20,108 aboveground, flattening homes and destroying buildings. 187 00:10:20,110 --> 00:10:23,578 But beneath ground, something just as sinister was happening. 188 00:10:23,647 --> 00:10:27,615 The earthquake shattered the city's gas lines, 189 00:10:27,651 --> 00:10:31,419 setting the stage for the 1906 quake's biggest killer-- 190 00:10:31,555 --> 00:10:34,289 fire. 191 00:10:38,228 --> 00:10:40,762 More than 50 fires burned around the city, 192 00:10:40,897 --> 00:10:43,898 and to make matters worse, the firefighters 193 00:10:43,901 --> 00:10:46,401 were unable to communicate with each other. 194 00:10:52,543 --> 00:10:54,542 And for the San Francisco Fire Department, 195 00:10:54,545 --> 00:10:56,344 that presented a huge challenge. 196 00:10:56,479 --> 00:10:59,480 Any team fighting a fire needs to be connected. 197 00:10:59,550 --> 00:11:02,450 A paid fire department 198 00:11:02,586 --> 00:11:05,519 had only been established in 1866, 199 00:11:05,556 --> 00:11:08,456 a mere 40 years before the quake. 200 00:11:08,592 --> 00:11:11,693 The young city created a fire alarm system 201 00:11:11,828 --> 00:11:14,629 to help the department respond to calls, 202 00:11:14,631 --> 00:11:17,966 but that system failed during the 1906 quake, 203 00:11:17,968 --> 00:11:20,701 allowing fires to spread quickly. 204 00:11:20,737 --> 00:11:23,071 In addition, 205 00:11:23,140 --> 00:11:25,674 the fire department relied heavily on its chief 206 00:11:25,809 --> 00:11:28,009 for communication between units, 207 00:11:28,011 --> 00:11:31,613 but that man had been one of the earthquake's first victims, 208 00:11:31,682 --> 00:11:35,116 leaving the department without a leader. 209 00:11:35,251 --> 00:11:38,853 So did the ensuing chaos help feed the flames, 210 00:11:38,922 --> 00:11:41,256 allow them to spread? 211 00:11:41,258 --> 00:11:43,725 I've been invited by the San Francisco Fire Department 212 00:11:43,860 --> 00:11:46,328 today to join in a live burn, a training session, 213 00:11:46,463 --> 00:11:49,230 to see how critical communications really are 214 00:11:49,233 --> 00:11:51,299 to containing a fire. 215 00:11:55,205 --> 00:11:57,072 So tell me about today-- what's gonna go on? 216 00:11:57,207 --> 00:11:59,874 We're actually burning this house on the inside. (Don) Okay. 217 00:11:59,943 --> 00:12:02,444 I've got instructors all over the entire area, 218 00:12:02,579 --> 00:12:04,279 so you're gonna get right in the middle of it. 219 00:12:04,348 --> 00:12:06,313 Let's burn this place down. Let's burn it down. 220 00:12:06,250 --> 00:12:08,750 (voice over radio) Reporting a fire in a building. 221 00:12:08,885 --> 00:12:10,785 All units respond on C13. 222 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:14,489 (Don) Firefighters often train in real-world conditions, 223 00:12:14,558 --> 00:12:18,760 so communicating and working as a team under dangerous circumstances 224 00:12:18,895 --> 00:12:20,962 becomes second nature. 225 00:12:21,031 --> 00:12:23,231 Okay, so we're gonna have an engine comin 'right by us. 226 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:25,766 That'll be the first unit. (voice over radio) This is 3C, we'll give you a working fire. 227 00:12:25,802 --> 00:12:27,535 (Don) So it's communications right off the bat. 228 00:12:27,571 --> 00:12:29,204 (Jeffery) Yeah, absolutely. 229 00:12:29,206 --> 00:12:32,206 Communication at the very first minute or two of a fire, 230 00:12:32,308 --> 00:12:34,308 Yeah. extremely important. 231 00:12:34,344 --> 00:12:37,479 (voice over radio) ...with the ambulance now, we've got a second medical unit coming for the baby. 232 00:12:37,614 --> 00:12:40,415 (Don) It looks like chaos to me, 233 00:12:40,417 --> 00:12:42,884 but this is a technique, a practice that's been done 234 00:12:43,019 --> 00:12:44,552 over and over. Absolutely. 235 00:12:44,621 --> 00:12:46,921 (Jeffery) We train on it all the time-- everybody knows 236 00:12:46,990 --> 00:12:49,857 their specific job, multiple things going on at one time. 237 00:12:49,926 --> 00:12:53,094 What's it like in there? Can I take a look? 238 00:12:53,229 --> 00:12:54,963 You sure can. Let's bring you inside. 239 00:12:57,334 --> 00:12:59,200 Wow. 240 00:12:59,269 --> 00:13:02,604 (Jeffery) All right, let's do it. Let's put a fire out. 241 00:13:13,684 --> 00:13:17,185 The usefulness of me dressing up in this and getting involved 242 00:13:17,187 --> 00:13:20,155 in this environment is to get some sense of 243 00:13:20,290 --> 00:13:22,791 the chaos of moving...whoa! 244 00:13:22,793 --> 00:13:25,994 Of moving into this environment, which is unbelievably hot 245 00:13:25,996 --> 00:13:28,630 right away but also incredibly confusing. 246 00:13:34,904 --> 00:13:37,005 So you can understand the need for communications 247 00:13:37,007 --> 00:13:38,740 under these circumstances. 248 00:13:38,742 --> 00:13:40,808 I mean, all hell is going on in here. 249 00:13:40,844 --> 00:13:44,512 You can imagine this feeling that I am very much getting-- 250 00:13:44,581 --> 00:13:48,716 it's a hot, hot flame--taking over all of San Francisco. 251 00:13:48,752 --> 00:13:51,419 How would they ever put that out? 252 00:13:55,392 --> 00:13:57,792 With communications in disarray, 253 00:13:57,828 --> 00:14:01,329 the department was in chaos, and the fires only burned hotter. 254 00:14:01,398 --> 00:14:04,932 Two hundred thousand of the city's residents 255 00:14:05,067 --> 00:14:07,902 were now homeless and sought refuge in the city's parks. 256 00:14:08,037 --> 00:14:11,739 Others crowded onto the ferries, desperate to escape the blaze. 257 00:14:11,742 --> 00:14:14,442 To make matters worse, 258 00:14:14,511 --> 00:14:17,311 the violent shaking of the quake had also broken 259 00:14:17,347 --> 00:14:20,314 the water mains-- when the firefighters 260 00:14:20,384 --> 00:14:23,451 opened the hydrants, they were dry. 261 00:14:26,890 --> 00:14:28,856 Without any water to fight the fires 262 00:14:28,892 --> 00:14:31,926 and their horses dying of exhaustion from climbing 263 00:14:31,828 --> 00:14:34,329 the city's steep hills, they had to come up 264 00:14:34,331 --> 00:14:36,498 with a new plan. 265 00:14:36,500 --> 00:14:38,700 As fire spread from house to house, 266 00:14:38,835 --> 00:14:41,703 the department believed they could save more homes 267 00:14:41,705 --> 00:14:43,904 by sacrificing a few, 268 00:14:43,940 --> 00:14:46,007 so what did they do? 269 00:14:46,142 --> 00:14:48,777 They blew up the houses in the fire's path 270 00:14:48,912 --> 00:14:51,613 with dynamite. 271 00:14:51,615 --> 00:14:54,249 They believed the fires would lose momentum 272 00:14:54,251 --> 00:14:56,217 and burn out. 273 00:14:56,352 --> 00:14:58,919 They were wrong. 274 00:14:58,955 --> 00:15:00,989 That plan literally backfired 275 00:15:01,124 --> 00:15:04,025 when the dynamite sparked new fires. 276 00:15:03,994 --> 00:15:07,495 I mean, it was--a firestorm was going on in that city. 277 00:15:07,497 --> 00:15:09,964 They're walking through hell. 278 00:15:10,099 --> 00:15:13,801 But it wasn't just a miscalculation 279 00:15:13,804 --> 00:15:16,638 by the fire department that fueled the firestorm. 280 00:15:16,773 --> 00:15:20,508 The most famous blaze 281 00:15:20,544 --> 00:15:23,611 was the one that came to be known as the ham and eggs fire-- 282 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:26,013 it broke out after a woman decided 283 00:15:25,982 --> 00:15:28,215 to make her family breakfast. 284 00:15:28,351 --> 00:15:31,118 Unaware that her chimney had collapsed in the quake, 285 00:15:31,254 --> 00:15:33,921 she turned on her stove, and within minutes, 286 00:15:33,990 --> 00:15:36,291 flames engulfed the house. 287 00:15:36,293 --> 00:15:40,227 The fire would go on to destroy much of the Western Addition, 288 00:15:40,263 --> 00:15:43,030 City Hall, Mechanics' Pavilion, 289 00:15:42,999 --> 00:15:45,767 and a section of Market Street. 290 00:15:48,772 --> 00:15:52,040 It would be three more days before fires were extinguished, 291 00:15:52,042 --> 00:15:54,609 but by then, the city was gone, 292 00:15:54,611 --> 00:15:57,144 reduced to a pile of rubble. 293 00:15:57,214 --> 00:16:01,015 But the lessons of 1906 haven't been lost 294 00:16:01,017 --> 00:16:04,418 on today's firefighters-- now, each member carries 295 00:16:04,454 --> 00:16:07,722 a radio at an incident, and there is a chain of command 296 00:16:07,691 --> 00:16:10,458 in place should a leader become incapacitated. 297 00:16:13,430 --> 00:16:15,396 These guys back in 1906 would've been 298 00:16:15,465 --> 00:16:17,499 completely disoriented. 299 00:16:20,503 --> 00:16:22,470 I'm gettin' out of here. Ooh! 300 00:16:27,510 --> 00:16:31,011 The rebuild of San Francisco would begin immediately 301 00:16:31,047 --> 00:16:33,581 out of necessity, with its cable cars 302 00:16:33,617 --> 00:16:36,551 up and running only two weeks after the disaster. 303 00:16:36,686 --> 00:16:40,454 But would the quickly reconstructed city 304 00:16:40,490 --> 00:16:43,458 be riddled with new dangers for future generations? 305 00:16:43,460 --> 00:16:46,527 [sirens wailing] 306 00:16:46,596 --> 00:16:49,263 Would San Francisco be doomed to repeat its own 307 00:16:49,299 --> 00:16:52,834 deadly history? [screaming] 308 00:17:03,947 --> 00:17:06,581 (Don) San Francisco was reeling from disaster 309 00:17:06,716 --> 00:17:09,384 after the earthquake and great fire of 1906 310 00:17:09,386 --> 00:17:11,385 ripped through the city. 311 00:17:11,520 --> 00:17:13,821 The destruction was unprecedented. 312 00:17:13,857 --> 00:17:16,924 Days after the last fires were put out 313 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:20,528 with the ashes still smoldering, city officials surveyed the damage. 314 00:17:20,530 --> 00:17:24,198 It's estimated that more than 3,000 people perished, 315 00:17:24,234 --> 00:17:27,801 though with City Hall and all census data destroyed, 316 00:17:27,837 --> 00:17:30,271 no one knows exactly how many people died. 317 00:17:30,273 --> 00:17:32,941 But one thing was for certain-- San Francisco 318 00:17:33,076 --> 00:17:36,477 as it had existed was gone-- the city would need to be 319 00:17:36,479 --> 00:17:39,747 completely rebuilt-- would that rebuilding 320 00:17:39,816 --> 00:17:42,850 protect San Francisco from future devastation, 321 00:17:42,886 --> 00:17:45,853 or would the same construction shortcuts 322 00:17:45,855 --> 00:17:48,156 condemn it to an even worse fate? 323 00:17:56,099 --> 00:17:58,399 The city needed to rebuild immediately, 324 00:17:58,401 --> 00:18:01,002 and one citizen would be key to its recovery. 325 00:18:02,706 --> 00:18:05,273 The head of a small lender called the Bank of Italy 326 00:18:05,275 --> 00:18:08,676 feared his money would be stolen by looters after the quake, 327 00:18:08,712 --> 00:18:12,613 so he decided to take the money and hide it in a wagon. 328 00:18:12,616 --> 00:18:15,549 Other banks left their money in safes, 329 00:18:15,619 --> 00:18:19,020 which were still too hot to open even days after the fire. 330 00:18:19,155 --> 00:18:22,222 This allowed the Bank of Italy to be the first 331 00:18:22,358 --> 00:18:24,392 to reopen and offer loans to people 332 00:18:24,527 --> 00:18:26,728 to restart their lives. 333 00:18:26,730 --> 00:18:29,530 That institution still exists today, 334 00:18:29,532 --> 00:18:32,333 renamed the Bank of America. 335 00:18:32,468 --> 00:18:36,137 In addition to loans, building codes were relaxed 336 00:18:36,206 --> 00:18:39,841 to help speed up construction, and within three years, 337 00:18:39,976 --> 00:18:42,543 the city was nearly back to normal. 338 00:18:42,579 --> 00:18:46,447 Over time, San Francisco found itself needing 339 00:18:46,416 --> 00:18:49,383 to expand to accommodate its population, 340 00:18:49,285 --> 00:18:52,486 but this time, the expansion happened upward, 341 00:18:52,422 --> 00:18:55,056 with skyscrapers soaring above the horizon, 342 00:18:55,191 --> 00:18:58,926 but did the modern-day high rises and mega structures 343 00:18:59,061 --> 00:19:02,429 pose an even bigger danger than the simple, 344 00:19:02,465 --> 00:19:04,932 low-rise landscape of 1906? 345 00:19:09,372 --> 00:19:11,672 In 1989, those structures were tested 346 00:19:11,708 --> 00:19:15,142 when the biggest earthquake since 1906 rocked the city. 347 00:19:15,178 --> 00:19:18,746 [screaming] 348 00:19:21,484 --> 00:19:23,651 The epicenter was roughly 75 miles 349 00:19:23,786 --> 00:19:26,254 from San Francisco near Loma Prieta. 350 00:19:26,256 --> 00:19:28,756 The 6.9 quake caused 351 00:19:28,891 --> 00:19:31,659 a portion of the Oakland Bay Bridge Freeway to collapse, 352 00:19:31,661 --> 00:19:34,896 and part of the city burned for the second time. 353 00:19:37,701 --> 00:19:40,401 So what have we learned from the past quakes 354 00:19:40,370 --> 00:19:43,237 to protect San Francisco's future? 355 00:19:43,206 --> 00:19:46,541 The answers may lie in the city's most prominent building. 356 00:19:53,116 --> 00:19:55,783 This is City Hall, San Francisco's nerve center, 357 00:19:55,852 --> 00:19:58,519 but even the most important building in the city 358 00:19:58,521 --> 00:20:01,389 couldn't withstand the great fire of 1906. 359 00:20:01,391 --> 00:20:03,624 All that was left was the outer shell 360 00:20:03,660 --> 00:20:06,226 and the dome, towering over the ashes. 361 00:20:06,262 --> 00:20:08,762 So they moved it here, 362 00:20:08,798 --> 00:20:11,132 to a designated safe zone. 363 00:20:11,201 --> 00:20:14,035 So what makes this building the most prepared in the city? 364 00:20:22,078 --> 00:20:24,512 At the time of San Francisco's reconstruction, 365 00:20:24,514 --> 00:20:27,448 the nation was in the midst of its own revitalization 366 00:20:27,450 --> 00:20:30,417 against the backdrop of the City Beautiful movement, 367 00:20:30,453 --> 00:20:33,087 which introduced a new, monumental grandeur 368 00:20:33,089 --> 00:20:35,222 to America's cities. 369 00:20:35,291 --> 00:20:37,992 The new City Hall building opened in 1915, 370 00:20:38,061 --> 00:20:40,695 a grand tribute to San Francisco's resilience. 371 00:20:40,830 --> 00:20:43,363 This place takes up a full two city blocks, 372 00:20:43,399 --> 00:20:46,367 and its dome is taller than the U.S. Capitol 373 00:20:46,369 --> 00:20:50,337 by 42 feet, but building such a towering structure 374 00:20:50,406 --> 00:20:53,007 in this town doesn't come without risks. 375 00:20:53,009 --> 00:20:56,210 In 1989, the force of the quake twisted 376 00:20:56,279 --> 00:20:58,913 the dome on its base by four inches, 377 00:20:58,982 --> 00:21:01,114 spinning it like a top, 378 00:21:01,151 --> 00:21:03,383 so while total disaster was avoided, 379 00:21:03,419 --> 00:21:05,853 it was obvious the place needed a major upgrade 380 00:21:05,889 --> 00:21:08,189 if it was gonna survive the next big one. 381 00:21:12,595 --> 00:21:15,596 After the 1989 quake, City Hall underwent 382 00:21:15,731 --> 00:21:19,267 a $300 million floor-to-ceiling renovation, 383 00:21:19,269 --> 00:21:22,403 designed to return the building to its former glory, 384 00:21:22,472 --> 00:21:25,306 but perhaps the most astonishing feat 385 00:21:25,441 --> 00:21:28,609 was a decade-long project with the sole purpose 386 00:21:28,645 --> 00:21:31,879 of saving this city treasure during the next big one. 387 00:21:31,881 --> 00:21:35,583 Simin Naaseh was tasked with the job. 388 00:21:38,354 --> 00:21:41,155 So the day after the 1989 earthquake, did you go, 389 00:21:41,124 --> 00:21:43,590 "Okay, we're gonna fix that thing up"? 390 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:46,561 Well, actually, there was some worry about, you know, 391 00:21:46,696 --> 00:21:49,696 the status of the building, uh, after the earthquake. Oh, okay. 392 00:21:49,732 --> 00:21:53,000 The earthquake was a good wake-up call Yeah. 393 00:21:53,135 --> 00:21:55,703 because it resulted, you know, in the retrofitting of this building. 394 00:21:55,772 --> 00:21:57,704 So in retrofitting this building, 395 00:21:57,740 --> 00:21:59,873 there's many different steps to that, obviously. 396 00:21:59,909 --> 00:22:02,343 You've gotta secure all the different elements of the building, 397 00:22:02,412 --> 00:22:04,278 beginning at the base, Mmhm. 398 00:22:04,314 --> 00:22:07,281 and that's what this is here, right? This is a base isolator? 399 00:22:07,416 --> 00:22:10,084 It's a base isolator or a seismic isolator. 400 00:22:10,153 --> 00:22:13,454 (Don) The base isolators are made with thin layers 401 00:22:13,456 --> 00:22:16,323 of flexible rubber, which is able to move horizontally, 402 00:22:16,359 --> 00:22:20,227 and steel for vertical stiffness to hold the weight of the building. 403 00:22:20,230 --> 00:22:23,030 In this case, by installing 404 00:22:23,165 --> 00:22:25,499 this system at the base of the building, 405 00:22:25,501 --> 00:22:29,469 it allows the building to move as a rigid body. Okay. 406 00:22:29,505 --> 00:22:32,740 I gotta take a look at this thing. All right, let's go. 407 00:22:32,875 --> 00:22:35,976 This is the door right underneath that carpet. 408 00:22:36,012 --> 00:22:38,412 Oh, look at that! It's a secret chamber. 409 00:22:38,414 --> 00:22:40,081 Yes. I love it. 410 00:22:39,983 --> 00:22:41,816 How do I get in? That's the key. 411 00:22:43,753 --> 00:22:45,719 That's neat. 412 00:22:45,854 --> 00:22:47,688 Oh, it's a little tiny, small space. 413 00:22:47,823 --> 00:22:49,357 It is. [chuckles] 414 00:22:49,359 --> 00:22:51,391 That's why you need this. All right. 415 00:22:51,327 --> 00:22:53,728 Okay, wish me luck. All right. 416 00:22:53,863 --> 00:22:55,462 See you later. See you. 417 00:22:55,498 --> 00:22:58,065 [grunts] 418 00:23:02,405 --> 00:23:04,338 Okay, I here I come. 419 00:23:04,407 --> 00:23:07,208 The base isolators are designed to absorb 420 00:23:07,343 --> 00:23:09,476 the force of the quake, allowing the building 421 00:23:09,545 --> 00:23:12,280 to move 27 inches in either direction, 422 00:23:12,415 --> 00:23:15,316 essentially floating above the Earth's surface. 423 00:23:15,318 --> 00:23:18,319 In order to install an isolator beneath 424 00:23:18,388 --> 00:23:21,055 each column in the building, the weight of the structure 425 00:23:21,057 --> 00:23:23,257 had to be redirected. 426 00:23:23,326 --> 00:23:25,693 Using hydraulic jacks to support the load, 427 00:23:25,695 --> 00:23:28,495 the columns were then cut, and the base isolator 428 00:23:28,464 --> 00:23:31,832 was installed underneath. This process was repeated 429 00:23:31,834 --> 00:23:35,102 530 times and took 430 00:23:35,237 --> 00:23:37,938 a whopping nine years to complete. 431 00:23:37,941 --> 00:23:40,774 The phenomenon here is that you're talking about 432 00:23:40,810 --> 00:23:42,944 the fact that this huge building, 433 00:23:43,079 --> 00:23:45,479 this hundred-year-old huge structure, is not 434 00:23:45,481 --> 00:23:48,282 touching the ground anymore, and that's what's gonna 435 00:23:48,284 --> 00:23:51,151 protect the whole building in the case of a major 436 00:23:51,187 --> 00:23:53,955 earthquake, because it's gonna rock on this rubber. 437 00:23:54,090 --> 00:23:55,856 Kinda amazing. 438 00:24:00,830 --> 00:24:02,964 While City Hall may not make it through the next 439 00:24:03,099 --> 00:24:05,366 big one completely free of damage, 440 00:24:05,501 --> 00:24:08,135 the retrofit of this building allows it to be deemed 441 00:24:08,270 --> 00:24:12,073 safe in the event of another magnitude 7.9 earthquake. 442 00:24:14,343 --> 00:24:16,710 This building is amazing, full of history. 443 00:24:16,746 --> 00:24:19,513 It's home to the Goddess of Progress, 444 00:24:19,515 --> 00:24:22,916 the statue that once stood atop the dome 445 00:24:22,852 --> 00:24:25,319 of the original City Hall-- it's one of the few objects 446 00:24:25,454 --> 00:24:27,888 that survived the great fire of 1906. 447 00:24:27,991 --> 00:24:30,991 After the earthquake, the statue was removed 448 00:24:30,994 --> 00:24:33,394 from the rubble and then disappeared, 449 00:24:33,396 --> 00:24:35,863 its whereabouts unknown, a total mystery. 450 00:24:35,998 --> 00:24:39,533 So where did she go? And how did she get back here? 451 00:24:42,839 --> 00:24:45,439 San Franciscan John C. Irvine 452 00:24:45,441 --> 00:24:47,708 owned a plate-etching business that was destroyed 453 00:24:47,710 --> 00:24:49,844 in the great fire. 454 00:24:49,846 --> 00:24:52,146 During the cleanup, Irvine had his workers 455 00:24:52,215 --> 00:24:54,414 go over to City Hall and remove the statue, 456 00:24:54,450 --> 00:24:57,718 but during the move, the statue was damaged. 457 00:24:57,853 --> 00:25:01,455 Irvine's idea was to melt down what was left of it, 458 00:25:01,524 --> 00:25:05,292 the head, as scrap metal, and sell it to get back in business. 459 00:25:05,328 --> 00:25:08,996 Irvine eventually rebuilt his store, 460 00:25:09,131 --> 00:25:12,032 but the statue's head, which was never melded, 461 00:25:12,101 --> 00:25:14,368 was stored in the basement and forgotten. 462 00:25:19,909 --> 00:25:22,409 Not until years later, when Irvine's son William 463 00:25:22,445 --> 00:25:25,446 took over the family business, was the head rediscovered 464 00:25:25,515 --> 00:25:28,983 and eventually presented at the new City Hall. 465 00:25:31,521 --> 00:25:33,753 So what was thought to be lost forever 466 00:25:33,790 --> 00:25:36,623 is now here again, a symbol of the progress 467 00:25:36,659 --> 00:25:39,794 San Francisco has made over the last century. 468 00:25:44,267 --> 00:25:46,367 Protecting this building and all its history 469 00:25:46,502 --> 00:25:49,103 is a top priority for city officials. 470 00:25:49,105 --> 00:25:51,505 In addition to the base isolators, 471 00:25:51,507 --> 00:25:53,740 the dome has been reinforced to prevent it 472 00:25:53,810 --> 00:25:56,810 from twisting as it did in the 1989 quake. 473 00:25:56,879 --> 00:26:01,114 So the way up to the dome is through this door here. 474 00:26:01,150 --> 00:26:04,585 And they've given me the special access code, 475 00:26:04,587 --> 00:26:06,921 which you can't know. 476 00:26:07,056 --> 00:26:09,322 Hey, look at that. 477 00:26:09,358 --> 00:26:11,892 Watch your head. 478 00:26:11,894 --> 00:26:14,361 And this way up. 479 00:26:27,110 --> 00:26:29,409 There's the door right there. 480 00:26:29,545 --> 00:26:32,146 Check this out. 481 00:26:32,215 --> 00:26:34,648 Yeah, this is neat. 482 00:26:34,717 --> 00:26:37,651 All right, so you can see, if you come in here, 483 00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:39,620 you know, one aspect 484 00:26:39,755 --> 00:26:42,356 of this amazing retrofit, 485 00:26:45,128 --> 00:26:47,394 this whole piece of metal here 486 00:26:47,530 --> 00:26:50,231 is repeated elsewhere around the dome. 487 00:26:50,233 --> 00:26:51,932 I mean, this is a big, heavy piece of metal, 488 00:26:52,067 --> 00:26:54,134 and it's attaching directly to the structure. 489 00:26:54,203 --> 00:26:56,036 See that? That's the old dome all inside there. 490 00:26:56,172 --> 00:26:57,938 So cool. 491 00:27:00,009 --> 00:27:02,375 So this is a retrofit that goes bottom to top. 492 00:27:02,411 --> 00:27:04,778 The whole thing is being held together in different ways 493 00:27:04,780 --> 00:27:06,480 in the case of the big one. 494 00:27:12,255 --> 00:27:13,921 There we go. 495 00:27:13,923 --> 00:27:16,356 So we get higher and higher in the whole structure, 496 00:27:16,392 --> 00:27:18,858 and you can see how it's held together by two things-- 497 00:27:18,895 --> 00:27:22,096 the 1915 steelwork, all the rivets and everything, 498 00:27:22,098 --> 00:27:24,965 and then any of this newer, uh, red metal 499 00:27:25,001 --> 00:27:27,367 is all the retrofit from the '90s. 500 00:27:27,403 --> 00:27:29,869 You've got the early 20th century and the late 501 00:27:29,939 --> 00:27:31,972 holding this whole building up. 502 00:27:34,209 --> 00:27:35,709 Hey, look at this. 503 00:27:35,844 --> 00:27:37,645 So this is the payoff 504 00:27:37,647 --> 00:27:39,713 and why all of this is being protected. 505 00:27:39,749 --> 00:27:43,584 Glorious. 506 00:27:47,623 --> 00:27:49,957 One of the most elegant buildings in all of America. 507 00:27:55,598 --> 00:27:57,898 Ironically, in the case of a major earthquake 508 00:27:58,033 --> 00:28:00,967 in the Bay Area, and thanks to the efforts they've made, 509 00:28:01,003 --> 00:28:04,905 this century-old building is one of the safest places to be. 510 00:28:11,147 --> 00:28:14,748 San Francisco is on its way to becoming one of the most 511 00:28:14,750 --> 00:28:17,484 earthquake-prepared places on Earth. 512 00:28:17,553 --> 00:28:21,121 But with a complex system of fault lines 513 00:28:21,157 --> 00:28:23,724 throughout the state, do we know where 514 00:28:23,726 --> 00:28:27,261 the next big one will strike, and will California be ready? 515 00:28:39,742 --> 00:28:42,376 The San Andreas Fault caused the major earthquakes 516 00:28:42,378 --> 00:28:46,046 that shook San Francisco in 1906 and 1989. 517 00:28:46,082 --> 00:28:49,049 But we know it isn't 518 00:28:49,085 --> 00:28:51,518 the only threat lurking below. 519 00:28:51,654 --> 00:28:53,787 Any one of California's many fault lines 520 00:28:53,922 --> 00:28:56,590 could wreak havoc on the city at any moment, 521 00:28:56,725 --> 00:28:59,592 but which one will be the first to go? 522 00:28:59,528 --> 00:29:03,664 The fault that most concerns scientists is the Hayward Fault, 523 00:29:03,666 --> 00:29:06,367 which lies just east of San Francisco. 524 00:29:11,941 --> 00:29:14,742 I'm heading up to Hayward, California--it's the town 525 00:29:14,877 --> 00:29:18,412 the fault was named after--to meet with the project manager 526 00:29:18,414 --> 00:29:21,949 of what is called the USGS Fault Creep Project. 527 00:29:21,951 --> 00:29:24,151 For decades, these guys have been studying 528 00:29:24,286 --> 00:29:26,387 how the fault line is shifting. 529 00:29:26,522 --> 00:29:29,323 The Hayward Fault Line runs parallel 530 00:29:29,325 --> 00:29:32,125 to its more famous counterpart, the San Andreas, 531 00:29:32,194 --> 00:29:35,061 and is part of a larger fault system that threatens 532 00:29:35,197 --> 00:29:36,897 the Bay Area. 533 00:29:37,032 --> 00:29:39,400 It has recently been discovered that some of these fault lines 534 00:29:39,535 --> 00:29:41,835 connect underground, creating the potential 535 00:29:41,871 --> 00:29:45,572 for a much more damaging earthquake than that of 1906. 536 00:29:45,707 --> 00:29:48,876 Studies in northern California 537 00:29:48,878 --> 00:29:51,011 have veered off of the San Andreas 538 00:29:51,013 --> 00:29:53,146 to focus more on the Hayward Fault Line 539 00:29:53,215 --> 00:29:55,348 because of its dangerous location under some of 540 00:29:55,384 --> 00:29:57,885 the state's most populated areas. 541 00:29:57,887 --> 00:30:01,422 If scientists can predict where an earthquake will happen, 542 00:30:01,424 --> 00:30:03,724 it could save a lot of lives. 543 00:30:09,098 --> 00:30:12,066 So this crack in the street, which looks like a lot 544 00:30:12,201 --> 00:30:15,402 of other cracks in the streets, is actually a major fault line. Right. 545 00:30:15,471 --> 00:30:18,572 That is the Hayward Fault. That is so crazy. 546 00:30:18,574 --> 00:30:20,173 Do these people know it? 547 00:30:20,242 --> 00:30:22,342 Goes right--I'm sure they know it, yes. 548 00:30:22,411 --> 00:30:24,077 Goes right through their house, and I'm sure 549 00:30:24,146 --> 00:30:27,680 when they're sleeping at night, they hear creaking things, Really? 550 00:30:27,717 --> 00:30:29,749 'cause this is moving. This is crazy. 551 00:30:29,785 --> 00:30:31,985 I mean, this is what we hear about the Bay Area so much, 552 00:30:32,054 --> 00:30:34,287 that there's so many different fault lines, 553 00:30:34,256 --> 00:30:37,324 and I'm standing on two sides of one right now. 554 00:30:37,393 --> 00:30:39,392 That's right. 555 00:30:39,428 --> 00:30:41,628 (Don) The Hayward Fault is what is categorized 556 00:30:41,764 --> 00:30:45,399 as a continuous creep fault, meaning it's always moving. 557 00:30:45,534 --> 00:30:48,635 The average is about 4 millimeters per year. 558 00:30:51,574 --> 00:30:54,774 The Fault Creep Project is similar to land surveying, 559 00:30:54,810 --> 00:30:57,578 but in this case, three targets are set up, 560 00:30:57,580 --> 00:31:00,414 two on the stationary side of the fault line, 561 00:31:00,416 --> 00:31:03,216 and the third on the opposite, to measure the movement. 562 00:31:03,285 --> 00:31:06,619 This is a dangerous place I'm standing. Yes. 563 00:31:06,655 --> 00:31:10,424 This one is moving, and it's loading up, 564 00:31:10,493 --> 00:31:12,960 getting ready for another big earthquake. 565 00:31:12,962 --> 00:31:15,462 (Don) That's crazy! So this very 566 00:31:15,464 --> 00:31:18,999 mild-mannered, sedate neighborhood is 567 00:31:19,001 --> 00:31:21,234 basically a ticking time bomb. 568 00:31:21,270 --> 00:31:23,269 And that's why it's so dangerous, 569 00:31:23,305 --> 00:31:25,538 because so many people live on top of it. 570 00:31:25,574 --> 00:31:29,008 So what's the goal of the project? 571 00:31:29,044 --> 00:31:32,312 We would like to, uh, be able to predict 572 00:31:32,381 --> 00:31:35,215 an earthquake based on the information that we have here. 573 00:31:40,656 --> 00:31:42,756 So we are all equipped to do this test. 574 00:31:42,758 --> 00:31:45,592 Using simple trigonometry, 575 00:31:45,727 --> 00:31:48,228 Forest and his team can measure the distance 576 00:31:48,363 --> 00:31:50,397 the fault line has moved each year. 577 00:31:52,868 --> 00:31:55,568 That is why you pay attention in math, boys and girls. 578 00:31:55,604 --> 00:31:58,438 So you can figure out how the Earth is moving 579 00:31:58,474 --> 00:32:01,708 by incremental points. 580 00:32:01,677 --> 00:32:05,044 We get 6 millimeters in less than a year. 581 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:07,681 Really? So that's a pretty good amount of movement. 582 00:32:07,683 --> 00:32:10,049 When the big one hits, 583 00:32:10,085 --> 00:32:12,419 how much of a shift would you expect? 584 00:32:12,421 --> 00:32:15,856 It could be upwards of 5 to 6 feet. 585 00:32:15,991 --> 00:32:17,790 No! That's incredible. 586 00:32:17,827 --> 00:32:21,261 The normal is a matter of millimeters--one earthquake, 587 00:32:21,330 --> 00:32:24,664 one event, is gigantic amounts. 588 00:32:24,700 --> 00:32:28,201 So the point of all of this, these measurements, 589 00:32:28,204 --> 00:32:31,538 is to figure out when the next big one will happen, 590 00:32:31,607 --> 00:32:33,674 but do we know where it will happen? 591 00:32:33,676 --> 00:32:35,909 In fact, all of these measurements are part of, 592 00:32:35,945 --> 00:32:39,980 um, calculations of how much stress is already built up, 593 00:32:39,982 --> 00:32:42,816 and it tells us that the Hayward Fault 594 00:32:42,818 --> 00:32:45,051 is the most likely to go. 595 00:32:45,120 --> 00:32:46,753 This...I'm gettin' out of here. 596 00:32:46,789 --> 00:32:48,455 Run! 597 00:32:48,424 --> 00:32:50,624 All right. 598 00:32:53,395 --> 00:32:56,396 (Don) The 1906 quake was the springboard 599 00:32:56,532 --> 00:32:58,565 for earthquake studies. 600 00:32:58,634 --> 00:33:00,901 Scientists have since learned that big earthquakes 601 00:33:01,003 --> 00:33:04,638 of a magnitude 7.0 or greater tend to wreak havoc 602 00:33:04,773 --> 00:33:07,274 every 150 years or so. 603 00:33:07,409 --> 00:33:11,244 The southern part of the San Andreas Fault 604 00:33:11,213 --> 00:33:14,381 hasn't had a major rupture in over 300 years, 605 00:33:14,516 --> 00:33:17,618 increasing the likelihood of it producing a big one, 606 00:33:17,620 --> 00:33:21,521 and the last major quake along the Hayward Fault 607 00:33:21,557 --> 00:33:25,359 was in 1868, leading researchers to believe it might be 608 00:33:25,494 --> 00:33:28,161 the next to slip in the Bay area. 609 00:33:28,297 --> 00:33:30,797 When it reaches a breaking point, 610 00:33:30,733 --> 00:33:32,966 the one thing the experts can agree on 611 00:33:33,035 --> 00:33:35,969 is that this will be the greatest natural disaster of our time. 612 00:33:35,971 --> 00:33:39,239 But do we know when the big one will hit? 613 00:33:51,787 --> 00:33:54,588 (Don) Where earthquakes are concerned, one need only look 614 00:33:54,723 --> 00:33:58,025 at the past to know how dangerous the future really is. 615 00:34:00,162 --> 00:34:03,163 The repercussions of 1906 are still felt today. 616 00:34:03,298 --> 00:34:06,600 That's why earthquake prediction has emerged 617 00:34:06,735 --> 00:34:09,402 as a priority even at top institutions 618 00:34:09,438 --> 00:34:12,372 This is the campus of UC Berkeley. 619 00:34:12,374 --> 00:34:14,908 Maybe here I can find out when the next big one 620 00:34:14,910 --> 00:34:17,343 is gonna happen. 621 00:34:17,279 --> 00:34:21,214 UC Berkeley has been leading earthquake studies 622 00:34:21,283 --> 00:34:25,018 since the late 1800s, but the most unique thing 623 00:34:25,020 --> 00:34:27,320 about the university's campus is that 624 00:34:27,456 --> 00:34:30,056 it sits directly above the Hayward Fault Line. 625 00:34:30,092 --> 00:34:32,825 Many instruments within these walls are 626 00:34:32,861 --> 00:34:35,362 leading scientists closer to predicting when 627 00:34:35,431 --> 00:34:37,630 the big one might happen. 628 00:34:37,566 --> 00:34:40,334 This is not your typical museum, more of like a laboratory, 629 00:34:40,469 --> 00:34:43,336 but they have artifacts and archives here 630 00:34:43,405 --> 00:34:46,773 not available to the public, and tucked down the hallway 631 00:34:46,809 --> 00:34:49,109 here is an instrument that may hold the key 632 00:34:49,244 --> 00:34:51,345 to predicting earthquakes. 633 00:34:55,384 --> 00:34:57,917 Dr. Uhrhammer? Oh, hi, Don. 634 00:34:58,053 --> 00:35:00,286 Welcome to the Berkeley Seismological Lab. Thank you very much. 635 00:35:00,356 --> 00:35:03,389 What a place to have a seismology lab, in the Bay Area. 636 00:35:03,359 --> 00:35:05,559 So what--tell me about the history of recording earthquakes. 637 00:35:05,694 --> 00:35:07,227 How far back does that go? 638 00:35:07,362 --> 00:35:10,831 Two thousand years ago plus, there was an ancient 639 00:35:10,966 --> 00:35:12,932 Chinese seismograph. 640 00:35:13,002 --> 00:35:16,670 (Don) The first known seismic instrument 641 00:35:16,739 --> 00:35:19,472 was documented to be in China around 2,000 years ago 642 00:35:19,508 --> 00:35:21,675 during the Han Dynasty. 643 00:35:23,312 --> 00:35:25,712 The large bronze instrument had eight dragon heads 644 00:35:25,847 --> 00:35:27,981 around the top, each holding a ball, 645 00:35:27,950 --> 00:35:30,384 and the bottom was surrounded by eight toads. 646 00:35:30,519 --> 00:35:33,553 When an earthquake occurred, one of the dragons 647 00:35:33,555 --> 00:35:35,822 would drop a ball into a toad's mouth, 648 00:35:35,957 --> 00:35:38,325 indicating the direction of the earthquake. 649 00:35:38,460 --> 00:35:40,827 But today, 650 00:35:40,829 --> 00:35:44,731 we've become far more advanced than just determining earthquake direction. 651 00:35:44,733 --> 00:35:48,068 So what are these instruments here? 652 00:35:48,203 --> 00:35:50,770 These are called Wood-Anderson Seismographs. 653 00:35:50,839 --> 00:35:53,506 What's particularly important about these instruments 654 00:35:53,575 --> 00:35:56,275 was that they were used by Charles Richter 655 00:35:56,311 --> 00:35:59,346 in 1935 when he developed the Richter Magnitude Scale. 656 00:35:59,481 --> 00:36:01,148 Uh-huh. 657 00:36:01,150 --> 00:36:05,151 (Don) Placing multiple Wood-Anderson Seismographs around the Bay Area, 658 00:36:05,187 --> 00:36:08,388 Richter was able to use a mathematical formula 659 00:36:08,523 --> 00:36:12,058 to figure out the magnitude. 660 00:36:12,061 --> 00:36:15,995 So really California was where earthquake 661 00:36:16,131 --> 00:36:19,265 measurement science really got consolidated 662 00:36:19,301 --> 00:36:21,201 and they kinda figured it out. 663 00:36:21,203 --> 00:36:24,137 Especially last 20 to 30 years, there's been big advances 664 00:36:24,206 --> 00:36:27,941 to get better estimates of what the odds are 665 00:36:28,076 --> 00:36:31,177 of a repeat of a particular earthquake that's occurred in the past. 666 00:36:31,213 --> 00:36:34,113 (Don) The Wood-Anderson Seismograph has been the most 667 00:36:34,149 --> 00:36:36,950 useful instrument in measuring until now. 668 00:36:36,952 --> 00:36:39,853 Go take a look at it. All right, we'll go. Thank you. 669 00:36:39,855 --> 00:36:43,256 So California was the place 670 00:36:43,258 --> 00:36:46,126 where earthquake measurement was perfected, 671 00:36:46,128 --> 00:36:49,196 so will this be where they finally learn how to predict? 672 00:36:49,331 --> 00:36:51,931 The brains behind 673 00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:54,267 UC Berkeley's Seismological Lab 674 00:36:54,269 --> 00:36:57,404 are taking Richter's idea one step further. 675 00:37:01,577 --> 00:37:03,810 I'm getting an exclusive look at the technology 676 00:37:03,945 --> 00:37:06,746 being developed to warn people of an impending earthquake, 677 00:37:06,782 --> 00:37:09,181 and it uses an item you're probably 678 00:37:09,118 --> 00:37:11,485 carrying in your pocket right now. 679 00:37:13,889 --> 00:37:16,355 So earthquake science as I understand it now 680 00:37:16,391 --> 00:37:19,158 is all about recording and measuring earthquakes 681 00:37:19,194 --> 00:37:22,295 that already happened, so where's the cutting edge 682 00:37:22,297 --> 00:37:24,096 of this technology? 683 00:37:24,133 --> 00:37:26,299 Our goal is to very rapidly detect earthquakes 684 00:37:26,335 --> 00:37:28,702 when they start and then push out a warning seconds, 685 00:37:28,704 --> 00:37:31,571 tens of seconds, perhaps a few minutes before the earthquake. 686 00:37:31,607 --> 00:37:33,039 So there's an app for that. 687 00:37:33,108 --> 00:37:35,041 There is an app for that, that's right. 688 00:37:37,346 --> 00:37:39,846 (Don) The app works by using the sensor on our smartphones 689 00:37:39,848 --> 00:37:42,215 that detects motion-- this sensor is built 690 00:37:42,284 --> 00:37:45,051 into the phone to automatically adjust the orientation 691 00:37:45,120 --> 00:37:48,588 of the screen as you tilt the phone viewing photos or videos. 692 00:37:48,624 --> 00:37:53,160 Amazingly, this sensor in the phone is also able 693 00:37:53,295 --> 00:37:56,663 to detect and record the motion caused by an earthquake. 694 00:37:56,665 --> 00:38:00,266 I just want to understand this-- so every phone is itself 695 00:38:00,169 --> 00:38:02,802 kind of like a--a seismograph. 696 00:38:02,838 --> 00:38:04,370 That's exactly right. 697 00:38:04,406 --> 00:38:06,606 And, of course, the way that we know there really is an earthquake 698 00:38:06,642 --> 00:38:10,143 is that most people's phones in an area all trigger at the same time. 699 00:38:10,278 --> 00:38:11,745 Wow. 700 00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:13,746 When the phone senses an earthquake, 701 00:38:13,782 --> 00:38:15,782 an alert will be sent out to its users, 702 00:38:15,751 --> 00:38:18,051 warning them to take cover. 703 00:38:18,053 --> 00:38:21,187 Eventually, these warnings will be used to slow trains, 704 00:38:21,190 --> 00:38:23,022 shut down gas lines, 705 00:38:23,058 --> 00:38:25,725 and put other protective measures into place, 706 00:38:25,761 --> 00:38:28,661 hopefully lessening the damage from an earthquake. 707 00:38:28,597 --> 00:38:31,998 So with everybody walking around with a seismograph in their pocket, 708 00:38:32,034 --> 00:38:35,702 are we gonna finally be able to predict earthquakes in our lifetime? 709 00:38:35,704 --> 00:38:38,204 I don't think so--most seismologists would agree, 710 00:38:38,273 --> 00:38:40,540 this is not gonna happen in the foreseeable future. 711 00:38:40,675 --> 00:38:43,443 Really why is that? So the reason is that 712 00:38:43,578 --> 00:38:45,411 the fault plane, what causes an earthquake 713 00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:47,613 to start is you have these two pieces of rock 714 00:38:47,649 --> 00:38:49,149 that have a lot of stress on them, 715 00:38:49,151 --> 00:38:51,617 and one particular day, this little patch here pops, 716 00:38:51,653 --> 00:38:54,554 and then the patch next to it pops, and it keeps on popping, 717 00:38:54,623 --> 00:38:56,423 and that's what gives you a big earthquake. 718 00:38:56,425 --> 00:38:58,625 There's too many random variables, okay. Too many pieces. 719 00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:00,560 So in our lifetime, this is never gonna happen, 720 00:39:00,695 --> 00:39:03,897 but the reaction time is going to grow shorter 721 00:39:04,032 --> 00:39:06,533 and shorter and shorter until we're gonna basically 722 00:39:06,535 --> 00:39:08,602 know right away there's an earthquake happening somewhere in the world, 723 00:39:08,737 --> 00:39:11,871 and that's when you're gonna charge $9.99 for that. [laughter] 724 00:39:11,874 --> 00:39:14,274 That's cool, okay, so that means lives saved, 725 00:39:14,409 --> 00:39:17,177 cars off the highway at that moment. 726 00:39:17,312 --> 00:39:20,846 So once again, in the world of, uh, earthquake science, 727 00:39:20,883 --> 00:39:23,449 California is where you wanna be. That's right. 728 00:39:23,585 --> 00:39:25,819 All right. See you later. See you. 729 00:39:31,593 --> 00:39:33,994 While we're able to study earthquake swarms 730 00:39:34,129 --> 00:39:37,196 and monitor fault movements, we're no closer 731 00:39:37,332 --> 00:39:40,867 to earthquake prediction today than we were in 1906. 732 00:39:40,936 --> 00:39:44,204 One thing we do know, it's not a matter of 733 00:39:44,339 --> 00:39:46,806 if it will happen but where and when. 734 00:39:46,808 --> 00:39:50,677 So what will happen when the big one strikes? 735 00:40:04,026 --> 00:40:06,626 The Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906 destroyed 736 00:40:06,761 --> 00:40:09,262 one of America's most beloved cities. 737 00:40:09,331 --> 00:40:12,098 The lessons learned from that terrible tragedy 738 00:40:12,233 --> 00:40:15,401 have profoundly changed the way we build our cities 739 00:40:15,370 --> 00:40:17,437 and protect our citizens, 740 00:40:17,506 --> 00:40:20,840 but over a century later, we're still asking 741 00:40:20,909 --> 00:40:24,310 the same question-- when will the next big one strike? 742 00:40:24,379 --> 00:40:28,314 And really, we're no closer to the answer. 743 00:40:28,383 --> 00:40:32,084 As for what happens when it finally comes, 744 00:40:32,120 --> 00:40:34,187 we can look to our neighbors. 745 00:40:37,192 --> 00:40:39,659 Massive earthquakes have decimated cities 746 00:40:39,661 --> 00:40:42,528 around the world since the Great Earthquake of 1906, 747 00:40:42,597 --> 00:40:45,631 giving us repeated warnings of what the big one 748 00:40:45,701 --> 00:40:49,202 could do the West Coast if and when it happens. 749 00:40:49,337 --> 00:40:52,672 [sirens wailing] 750 00:40:54,710 --> 00:40:57,043 The most powerful earthquake ever recorded 751 00:40:57,079 --> 00:40:59,179 happened in 1960. 752 00:40:59,314 --> 00:41:01,982 A magnitude 9.5 shook Chile 753 00:41:02,117 --> 00:41:04,450 for 10 terrifying minutes, 754 00:41:04,519 --> 00:41:06,819 reducing buildings to rubble, 755 00:41:06,788 --> 00:41:08,855 killing over 1,600 people, 756 00:41:08,924 --> 00:41:11,958 and leaving 2 million homeless. 757 00:41:12,093 --> 00:41:14,593 That tragedy was followed by the strongest quake 758 00:41:14,629 --> 00:41:17,330 to ever hit the U.S.-- the shaking just off 759 00:41:17,465 --> 00:41:21,234 the Alaskan coast caused a tsunami 200 feet high 760 00:41:21,236 --> 00:41:23,269 in 1964. 761 00:41:24,806 --> 00:41:26,939 And the world is still feeling the repercussions 762 00:41:27,009 --> 00:41:29,209 of the great East Japan earthquake, 763 00:41:29,177 --> 00:41:31,678 which also unleashed a tsunami that disabled 764 00:41:31,813 --> 00:41:34,681 the Fukushima Power Plant. 765 00:41:34,683 --> 00:41:38,151 To this day, that plant is still releasing radioactivity. 766 00:41:38,153 --> 00:41:41,755 Debris from Japan washed ashore in California 767 00:41:41,890 --> 00:41:43,890 years after the quake. 768 00:41:48,563 --> 00:41:51,530 The fault line that brought down San Francisco in 1906 769 00:41:51,466 --> 00:41:53,566 is only the beginning. 770 00:41:53,502 --> 00:41:56,702 California's many fault lines are locked and loaded, 771 00:41:56,772 --> 00:42:00,006 ready to roll, and with several faults 772 00:42:00,008 --> 00:42:02,909 connecting just below the feet of millions of residents 773 00:42:02,811 --> 00:42:05,111 on the West Coast, the next big one 774 00:42:05,080 --> 00:42:08,114 will likely be bigger than that of 1906. 775 00:42:08,083 --> 00:42:11,918 The question is, will we be ready? 776 00:42:16,191 --> 00:42:18,858 Earthquakes will always be one of the great mysteries 777 00:42:18,894 --> 00:42:20,426 of all time. 778 00:42:20,462 --> 00:42:23,630 The next big one will hit, we just don't know when or where. 779 00:42:23,765 --> 00:42:26,299 All we can do is wait.