Home › News › State
Survivor recalls 'beautiful' quake
Eric Risberg / AP Mayor Gavin Newsom, left, laughs with 105-year-old Herbert Hamrol, a survivor of San Francisco's 1906 earthquake, as Hamrol tells stories of when the quake struck during a pre-dawn ceremony Friday. at Lotta's Fountain commemorating the 102nd anniversary of the earthquake in San Francisco, Friday, April 18, 2008. Lotta's Fountain is where survivors of the earthquake gathered to search for loved ones. Residents have been meeting there once a year to remember the lives lost to the Great Quake. Hamrol arrived at the ceremony in a vintage car, sat in the back seat and spun stories of when the earthquake struck.(AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
STORY TOOLS 
More from StateSAN FRANCISCO: The lone survivor of the Great Quake of 1906 who attended Friday morning's commemoration arrived in style, riding in an immaculate vintage car and spinning stories of the cataclysmic event.
More than 100 people, many dressed in period clothing, joined Herbert Hamrol, 105, for the pre-dawn ceremony at Lotta's Fountain, the downtown landmark where San Franciscans gathered after the magnitude-7.8 quake to look for lost loved ones.
Hamrol braved the morning chill in an antique black Lincoln, recalling how he was 3 years old when the quake struck and remembering his mother's carrying him out of his family's crumbling flat.
"You're not going to get an earthquake every day. So we celebrate the one that we had," Hamrol said.
"It was a beautiful earthquake, if you want to look at it in the glorious way."
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom observed a moment of silence for those who died in the temblor, which struck at 5:12 a.m. on April 18, 1906.
Article discussions on this site are to support community debates of issues related to our stories and editorials.
Discussions should not stray from the subject of the story or editorial.
We do not allow the following:
- Posts that degrade others on the basis of gender, race, class, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation or disability.
- Disparaging remarks, abusive language or obscene comments.
- Threats, whether obvious or veiled.
We reserve the right to delete threads and/or ban users for these or other reasons we deem necessary.
Opinions are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.
Comments are found beneath the Yahoo! ad below.