Memorials to Biggest Disasters in California
On Memorial Day we remember and pay homage to those who lived and now are gone. Pictured is a street scene from San Francisco depicting the morning of the 1906 earthquake that killed thousands of people.
1. The 2nd biggest single event in the history of the United States by death toll happened in California. In 1906 the San Francisco Earthquake was responsible for the death of between 3,000 and 6,000 people. A tropical cyclone in Galveston, TX in 1900 killed as many and probably more than 6,000. Would you believe that three survivors of the 1906 SF earthquake were still alive when the anniversary was remembered on April 18, 2013? Yes, they’re all over 100 years old but they were there on the fateful day. In addition to a fantastic film and exhibition at California Academy of Sciences which runs through 2013, city officials take part in the annual painting of the fire hydrant at 20th and Church streets that helped to save the Mission District following the quake.
2. 600 people in 1928 died in the St. Francis Dam flood in Santa Clarita.
3. 320 people died in an explosion of WWII ammunition at Port Chicago, Calif. in 1944
AIRCRAFT DISASTERS
144 people died in PSA Flight 182 in 1978
88 died in Alaska Airlines Flight 261 in the 2000 aircraft accident
82 died in the 1986 Cerritos mid-air collision of aircraft
43 died in the PSA Flight 1771 aircraft brought down by an irate ex-employee near Cayucos in 1987
38 people died in the United Airline Flight 266 aircraft accident in 1969 over the Santa Monica bay
35 died in the 1969 aircraft accident in Lone Pine
