Before dawn on April 18, 1906, San Francisco experienced a massive earthquake.  Its impact was even recorded in Germany, 9100 miles away.  Following the quake, a great fire raged for days.  To remove the rubble of so many ruined buildings, the U.S. Army used all available dynamite, creating many explosions in an already devastated city.  See the actual seismogram (from the German observatory), review US Geological Survey graphs (updated hourly) of the most recent quakes (in the U.S. and throughout the world) and examine national-archive photographs, film clips and eyewitness accounts of the 1906 disaster.  With linked animations, students can better understand why earthquakes occur - and what makes certain parts of the world (including California) so susceptible to them.  http://www.awesomestories.com/disasters/san_francisco/san_francisco_ch1.htm    

The website http://www.awesomestories.com/ is free for all educators, schools and libraries.  Simply request an academic membership with this sign-up form.  http://www.awesomestories.com/group_signup.php  

Carole Bos
Grand Valley State University
Dean's Advisory Board