Show Notes
It's early in the morning on a Tuesday when you're awakened by the shaking of your bed, of your entire home. You think for a moment it's the end of the world. You and your family make it out of your home, even though so many others do not. For a moment, you think you are safe. Then, you smell smoke. Videos:
A Trip Down Market Street, San Francisco - April 14th, 1906 Disaster by the Bay: The Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake Documentary Footage of San Francisco's 1906 quake as it occurred San Francisco after the devastating earthquake in 1906 like you've never seen before in color! [HD]
Articles and books:
The San Francisco Earthquake: A Minute-by-Minute Account of the 1906 Disaster, by Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts The Museum of the City of San Francisco: Timeline of the San Francisco Earthquake, April 18 - 23, 1906, along with a timeline of the graft investigation
More from Disaster Area
It might have felt like just a bad day at work - cracks in the walls, the merchandise shaking on the shelves, the air conditioning needing to be turned off. But the Sampoong department store wasn't just falling apart metaphorically. It was quite literally taking all day to fail.
In 6th century Constantinople, Emperor Justinian would lead the Byzantine empire into conquering other lands, constructing impressive architecture, and instituting a new legal code that still influences nations today. But before a lot of that was done, Justinian faced the wrath of his subjects, with their rage coming to a head at one of the unlikeliest of places - a chariot race.
We all know what a good strong summer thunderstorm looks like, and we know just how much rain one of them can douse us in. But on a warm Friday night in 1972, the eastern foothills of the Black Hills -- and in particular the town of Rapid City, South Dakota -- were struck by storms which broke dams, overflowed creek beds, and killed hundreds. Videos:
It was a beautiful Monday morning in San Diego on September 25, 1978 - sunny and hot with not a cloud in the sky. There was no reason whatsoever to think the day would be ruined by anything, but especially not by two planes colliding over a horrified suburb.
When we think of deadly peacetime maritime disasters, Titanic is the first ship to come to mind. But there is a far deadlier disaster which holds the record for the worst in terms of loss of life ... when a loaded oil tanker and a packed ferry collided in the Philippines one moonless night just before Christmas in 1987.