Was it Really an Earthquake?

Good afternoon, all. I trust that everyone is doing well. I apologize for not having written in over a week, but I've been figuratively running around feverishly trying to coordinate all of the things that need coordination prior to my move back to that great institution of higher education known as Indiana University. But nevertheless, I do sincerely apologize for my negligence to all my loyal readers (we actually had 6 different readers on one given day this week!). But forging ahead with more urgent matters, I give you my second installment of what makes San Francisco such a joyous town to call home.

Many of my readers from the west coast will already know some background of what I am about to tell. Many from the east coast may have heard its mention, but I will get everyone on the same page in the next few sentences. I don't know if anyone remembers his or her precise location at 5:12 a.m. on April 18, 1906, but this is the exact time of "The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake." The following is taken from the United States Geological Survey website :

"The California earthquake of April 18, 1906 ranks as one of the most significant earthquakes of all time. Today, its importance comes more from the wealth of scientific knowledge derived from it than from its sheer size. Rupturing the northernmost 430 kilometers of the San Andreas fault from northwest of San Juan Bautista to the triple junction at Cape Mendocino, the earthquake confounded contemporary geologists with its large, horizontal displacements and great rupture length. Indeed, the significance of the fault and recognition of its large cumulative offset would not be fully appreciated until the advent of plate tectonics more than half a century later. Analysis of the 1906 displacements and strain in the surrounding crust led Reid (1910) to formulate his elastic-rebound theory of the earthquake source, which remains today the principal model of the earthquake cycle." But enough of the historical background.

But the point of all this is proving to everyone how great San Francisco is. So I would like to spend just a moment expounding on how knowledgeable its citizens are. In the same way that Wikipedia can be edited by any and all who read it, so can public notices and signs in SF. Shown here on the right is one such instance that I encountered while walking along the Embarcadero. It appears that someone possessed a fact that has been withheld from the public for nearly 100 years. It seems that "The Great Earthquake" was not an earthquake at all, but a fartquake. I'm sure once this knowledge funnels through the appropriate channels, textbooks and scholarly publications will be rewritten to reflect such a breakthrough of this magnitude.

And this brings us to the completion of why not only San Francisco, but San Franciscans are so great. As usual, your commentaries are encouraged, but never mandatory. Thanks and have a great week. Stay cool if you are in the midst of "The Great Heatwave of 2005."