Remembering America's Biggest Earthquakes

One of the worst natural disasters in the United States struck on April 18, 1906. An earthquake measuring 8.3 on the Richter scale destroyed much of San Francisco. The quake killed 3,000 people and destroyed more than 500 city blocks -- about 28,000 buildings. Could it happen again? Are today's buildings more resistant to earthquake damage? Find facts about earthquake engineering and and construction on our Earthquakes resources page.