California

Fire or quake? Quake or fire? Over a century later, the debate still rages about whether the San Francisco earthquake caused more damage or whether it was the ensuing fires. No matter which was responsible for the greater devastation, the truth is that the great San Francisco California earthquake was the deadliest earthquake in U.S. history. The earthquake was also the first natural disaster of its magnitude to be documented by photography and motion picture footage which you can view for yourself below.