Performers in vintage attire sing “San Francisco” to close out the 120th annual 1906 earthquake and fire anniversary ceremony at Lotta’s Fountain early Saturday.
Sage Russell/For the S.F. Chronicle
Master of ceremonies Bob Sarlatte opens the 120th annual 1906 earthquake and fire anniversary ceremony at Lotta’s Fountain in San Francisco.
Sage Russell/For the S.F. Chronicle
Performers in vintage attire applaud after singing “San Francisco” to close out the 120th annual 1906 earthquake and fire anniversary ceremony at Lotta’s Fountain.
Sage Russell/For the S.F. Chronicle
Sheriff Paul Miyamoto speaks at the 120th annual 1906 earthquake and fire anniversary ceremony at Lotta’s Fountain in San Francisco.
Sage Russell/For the S.F. Chronicle
District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman speaks at the 120th annual 1906 earthquake and fire anniversary ceremony at Lotta’s Fountain in San Francisco.
Sage Russell/For the S.F. Chronicle
San Francisco Police Chief Derrick Lew speaks at the 120th annual 1906 earthquake and fire anniversary ceremony at Lotta’s Fountain in San Francisco.
Sage Russell/For the S.F. Chronicle
Assembly Woman Catherine Stefani speaks at the 120th annual 1906 earthquake and fire anniversary ceremony at Lotta’s Fountain in San Francisco.
Sage Russell/For the S.F. Chronicle
San Francisco Drag Laureate Per Sia speaks at the 120th annual 1906 earthquake and fire anniversary ceremony at Lotta’s Fountain in San Francisco.
Sage Russell/For the S.F. Chronicle
A member of MJ’s Brass Boppers band plays saxophone to open the 120th annual 1906 earthquake and fire anniversary ceremony at Lotta’s Fountain in San Francisco.
Sage Russell/For the S.F. Chronicle
Before dawn, San Francisco’s streets seemed to ripple. Brick walls collapsed, crushing horses and deliverymen. Church bells clanged as steeples swayed.
On April 18, 1906, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake, dozens of aftershocks and the fires that followed killed 3,000 people, destroying some 60,000 buildings and leaving at least 200,000 homeless.
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One hundred twenty years later, master of ceremonies Bob Sarlatte recounted the devastation and fires that consumed the city for the tragedy’s annual memorial. More than a hundred spectators gathered before 5 a.m. around Sarlatte at Lotta’s Fountain — a downtown landmark that survived the disaster. Soon, the crowd fell silent, a quiet broken by Sarlatte asking when the emergency sirens would start blaring to mark 5:12 a.m., the moment the earthquake began.
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“I’m right on time, for crying out loud,” he said before the sirens started. “All right, here we go.”
The predawn ceremony has endured for decades, continuing even after the last known survivors of the 1906 earthquake died. City leaders regularly attend, framing the anniversary as both a remembrance and a reminder of the risks that remain.
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Actor and Master of Ceremonies Bob Sarlatte takes a moment of silence to remember those who died during the 1906 earthquake at the 120th Annual 1906 Earthquake & Fire Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony Saturday, April 18, at Lotta’s Fountain.
Wendi Jonassen
The speakers this year included Assembly Member Catherine Stefani, Fire Chief Dean Crispen and Police Chief Derrick Lew. Mayor Daniel Lurie was in China attending his first international delegation and did not attend.
Former Mayor Willie Brown, dressed in a red double breasted suit and matching fedora, recalled ordering repairs to Lotta’s Fountain during his time in office beginning in the 1990s and has returned every year for the anniversary.
“I promised myself, from that day on, whether I was a mayor or not, I would be here,” he said. “I have never missed one.”
Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown speaks at the 120th annual 1906 earthquake and fire anniversary ceremony at Lotta’s Fountain.
Sage Russell/For the S.F. Chronicle
Several speakers emphasized how much the city’s emergency response has evolved since 1906, pointing to closer coordination among agencies and improved disaster planning.
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“We are more aligned and coordinated than ever,” Lew said. “I think we’re ready for what the future holds.”
Speakers spoke of the earthquake survivors who have long passed. William Del Monte, the last known witness of the disaster, died in 2016.
A brass band played as the crowd joined in singing “San Francisco,” the city’s anthem, before dispersing.Participants wearing vintage attire stayed behind to take photos.
Members of MJ’s Brass Boppers play to open the 120th Annual 1906 Earthquake & Fire Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony Saturday, April 18, at Lotta’s Fountain.
Wendi Jonassen
Samantha Young, 28, said she planned to continue the morning’s observances along the Embarcadero, where water from the bay was once used to fight the fires and evacuate the injured.
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“Me and my friends actually gathered all together, and we’re having a full party in commemoration of this event,” Young said.
Perryn Reis, 65, of San Francisco said she has gone through several earthquakes while living in the Bay Area. She was caring for her baby boy at the time in Berkeley when the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake began rattling the high chair her son was sitting in. Outside, car alarms were blasting and a fire was burning through the Marina and the Nimitz Freeway was collapsing.
Reis now resides in a home in Haight-Ashbury that survived the 1906 earthquake. When the next major quake strikes, she said, friends already know to go to her home.
A crowd gathers at Lotta’s Fountain in downtown San Francisco early Saturday to commemorate the 1906 earthquake and fire.
Sage Russell/For the S.F. Chronicle
After the ceremony at Lotta’s Fountain, the gathering moved to the historic fire hydrant at 20th and Church streets that is credited with saving the Mission District during the disaster. Participants spray-painted the fire hydrant gold and placed a wreath around it to cap off the annual tradition.
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