The Orange County Register, April 16th, 2006
You don't throw an anniversary party for a killer, but this week Californians are doing just that.
Perhaps it's the lack of malevolence. You can't blame the planet for doing what comes naturally, even if it rips cracks in the Earth, topples buildings and people die.
It was 100 years ago that the Big One hit California, proving to be one of the most spectacular field days for the future science of plate tectonics.
In the early morning hours of April 18, 1906, the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate broke along the 296 northernmost miles of the 800-mile San Andreas fault. Some areas lurched up to 20 feet.
Though the quake lasted less than a minute, fires raged for four days. Thousands died. Billions of dollars of property was damaged. The legend of California as "the earthquake state'' spread around the world.
This isn't just another dry anniversary. Scientists now know that the 1906 quake wasn't the biggest to ever hit California.
Even bigger ones may yet come. As soon as years. No longer than decades.
To mark the 100th anniversary, the Register Travel section is turning over most of its space this week to explore perhaps the state's most underappreciated - and most widely feared - tourist attraction.
Register travel editor Gary Warner and photographer Mark Rightmire drive the length of the fault and pick some top spots to see the impact of the Earth in motion.
Warner writes about Californians who live along the fault and their combination of fear and affection for the shaky ground they call home.
A look at three classic San Francisco hotels heavily damaged in the 1906 quake that were rebuilt and still reign supreme over the city by the Bay.
A map and graphic to show where the San Andreas fault runs through the state, along with the how and why of earthquakes.
A Cut It Out feature on major events in San Francisco and around California marking the anniversary of the 1906 earthquake.
