Petaluma an epicenter of calm after the quake of ‘06

California seismologists have been busy recently, talking about the next “big one.” I thought it might be interesting to review what did happen to our North Bay, in the devastating shaker of April 18, a little over 111 years ago.

The Petaluma Weekly Argus of April 19, 1906, blared the headline, “San Francisco almost annihilated.” In that terrible jolt of April 18, Santa Rosa was also nearly leveled. The quake had been centered in Marin County, but the seismic waves went out for hundreds of miles in all directions.

In Petaluma, some chimneys were cracked and some brick buildings were slightly damaged. No injuries or deaths occurred.

“Most of the buildings damaged were ancient affairs,” the Argus stated. The Steamer Gold, fully packed with crates of eggs, was shaken so badly at the wharf, that most of the eggs were broken. The adjoining 1854 Baylis/McNear warehouse still shows the two-story cemented crack that was sustained to an archway.

The 1892 Carlson-Currier Silk Mill had enough damage to its tower to cause famed Architect Brainerd Jones to order it “taken down at once.” It was, however, repaired within just a few days. Brainerd Jones’s new Carnegie Library building, now the Petaluma Historical Museum, had just opened a few weeks prior, then closed for minor earthquake repair to its stained glass dome.

On April 19, Petaluma Mayor Drees, called a citizen’s meeting to discuss local issues and how to offer, “immediate assistance and relief to Santa Rosa.” There was a lot of angst in Petaluma at the time, thinking that we must be next, and everyone needed to talk about it.

Why indeed, had Petaluma been spared? Sebastopol to the west, Sonoma and Napa to the east, San Rafael to the south and Santa Rosa to the north, were all severely damaged. Inverness and Napa nearly destroyed. How did our small town escape the worst?

Many Petalumans slept outside on the nights of April 18 through 20. The thought was, that any aftershock could bring down their homes. The smoke and ash from San Francisco fires was seen and breathed in Petaluma, increasing fear here, as the steamers Gold and Sonoma were bringing in refugees by the hundreds, all with gruesome tales to tell, most of them carrying the few belongings they’d been able to salvage.

California Governor Pardee suspended all business in the State, to assess damages, while The Argus, on April 20, headlined, “Santa Rosa Had a Holocaust. 12 blocks of downtown totally destroyed.”

Santa Rosa had been placed under martial law to obstruct looters. The Petaluma coroner sent much-needed coffins to Santa Rosa and two railroad trains were loaded with doctors, nurses, firemen, volunteers and supplies from here. Our Golden Eagle Milling Company ran night and day to supply flour for the suffering.

Petalumans were warned against lighting fires, because even a slight crack in their chimneys could burn down their homes, and that fire could spread. All schools were ordered closed, as well.

As the steamers were disgorging hundreds of refugees from San Francisco, backyards and ranches were sprouting tent shelters, and those who didn’t have a place to camp were put up in the fairgrounds. Petaluma City Hall, then located where the ‘A’ Street parking lot is now, became a collection center of supplies for Santa Rosa. It was said it looked, “like a big grocery store.”

By April 20, all of San Francisco was in ruins from the quake and fire, and the death toll had risen to over 500 there. Thousands were camping in Golden Gate Park, while tug and fish boats were offering to ferry people across the bay to Sausalito. If one could find some kind of ride to San Rafael, the train was still working from there, ready to carry folks to Petaluma and safety.

The Petaluma Argus cautioned, “No cause for alarm here. We have eggs, milk, potatoes, flour and poultry a-plenty.” Most all of Petaluma’s relief efforts were aimed at Santa Rosa, where thousands were homeless, and nearly 100 deaths had occurred.

The people of Petaluma responded in great numbers to help their sister city of Santa Rosa. The Argus reported that even “Old Jim Kee, the Chinese laundryman of lower Main Street, donated $23 to the relief fund.”

The sheriff of Marin County said that there were 10,000 homeless in San Rafael, spurring Petaluma egg dealers to send eggs there by the wagon loads. Marin County was also under martial law, and the San Rafael Police Chief stated they would “shoot on-sight any ghouls attempting to rob the dead.”

That didn’t happen.

But, here perhaps is a most telling testimony of Petaluma’s status, following the great earthquake.

This interesting advertisement from The Argus of April 26, 1906: “The J.W. Horn Co. has opened a new real estate office at 812 Main Street in Petaluma. Our San Francisco office is burned, but our force and immediate friends are safe and with us in Petaluma. The sun will continue to shine, the grass, fruits and flowers will grow and Petaluma chickens will lay eggs, as before.”

The Horn Co., not missing an opportunity, offered to negotiate trades of “several poultry ranches” in exchange for “newly vacant San Francisco real estate.” And, I bet that “vacant real estate” came with burned and bent structural materials, as well.

Business, almost, as usual.

The 1906 San Francisco earthquake has been labeled as one of our country’s greatest natural disasters. It started at 5:13 a.m. and lasted only 60 seconds. It hit 8.3 on the Richter Scale, and was felt from Oregon to San Diego to Nevada. Those 60 seconds ruptured gas lines and, as the gas met open flame in tottering buildings, it exploded, causing catastrophic fires, square miles of damage, and over 750 deaths in Northern California alone. The fires actually caused more damage than the quake, in San Francisco.

The epicenter of the ‘06 quake was said to have been in Marin County in the tiny village of Olema. The San Andreas fault runs right through the middle of Tomales Bay there, and it is theorized that the huge Point Reyes peninsula actually slipped 2 feet west in a semi-lateral direction, thus causing the giant jolt. It was estimated that the 8.3 on the Richter scale in San Francisco actually hit 9.0 in Sebastopol. For comparison, the 1989 Loma Prieta quake was only 6.9. (Just 10ths of a point on the Richter Scale are hugely more violent, and 9.0 is the highest on the scale).

The 1906, ‘57, ‘69, ‘89 and now the 2014 quakes, caused only small-to-medium sized bumps felt in Petaluma. No deaths, no injuries and little damage here, as most of our unreinforced masonry buildings have been retrofitted since 1975. Our beautiful 1892 Silk Mill is being retrofitted into a new hotel, just as I write this.

Geologists and seismologists theorize we’ve been spared because we are located “atop a solid foundation of bedrock,” which “transmits seismic energy” in a manner that avoids the abrupt jarring and “long seismic waves.”

Well, OK, I’m all with that. But, it could also be one of those “Petaluma Miracles,” right?