San Fransisco Earthquake
It was one of the greatest natural disasters in American history. The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 struck early on the morning of April 18th. In just seconds, buildings crumbled and splintered, the waterfront land liquefied and crevasses swallowed up homes and people. The destruction created a city-wide fire that raged out of control for days. In the panic of the aftermath innocent people were shot dead in the streets. Some 28,000 buildings collapsed or burned. More than 200,000 people were left homeless. Thousands died. A hundred years later, the Great Quake is still etched in our modern culture. Some called it an act of God, but the 1906 earthquake is a distinctly human story. San Francisco's Great Quake tells that story - one of corruption, valour, tragedy and progress. It is the emblematic story of what happens to a modern city when the earth moves under it. While the quake levelled a city in its infancy, it simultaneously gave birth to whole new avenues of understanding that have impacted earthquake science in every corner of the globe. Never before had calamity taught us so much. CGI allows this new National Geographic Special to give viewers an unprecedented view of the earthquake, while the human element of the story is provided by dramatic reenactments from the personal stories of characters such as the city fire chief, and Italian tenor Enrico Caruso - who was in the city for a performance. Seeing the disaster isn't the same as understanding why it happened. So, throughout the Special, we will interlace our 1906 story with scientific sequences from the present. All of the science is motivated by a mystery from one of the dramatic scenes. Why did the firefighters find no water in the fire hydrants? Why did some buildings survive while others crumbled? The San Francisco that stands today is a very different city from the one that was destroyed in 1906. But even with all the technological advances over the last century, will the modern towers - and the people of San Francisco - be able to stay standing not if, but when the next Big One occurs?
