<P> For years, the epicenter of the quake was assumed to be near the town of Olema, in the Point Reyes area of Marin County, because of evidence of the degree of local earth displacement . In the 1960s, a seismologist at UC Berkeley proposed that the epicenter was more likely offshore of San Francisco, to the northwest of the Golden Gate . The most recent analysis by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows that the most likely epicenter was very near Mussel Rock on the coast of Daly City, an adjacent suburb just south of San Francisco . An offshore epicenter is supported by the occurrence of a local tsunami recorded by a tide gauge at the San Francisco Presidio; the wave had an amplitude of approximately 3 in (8 cm) and an approximate period of 40--45 minutes . </P> <P> At the time, 375 deaths were reported; however, hundreds of fatalities in Chinatown went ignored and unrecorded . The total number of deaths is still uncertain, but various reports presented a range of 700--3,000 + . Most of the deaths occurred in San Francisco itself, but 189 were reported elsewhere in the Bay Area; nearby cities, such as Santa Rosa and San Jose, also suffered severe damage . In Monterey County, the earthquake permanently shifted the course of the Salinas River near its mouth . Where previously the river emptied into Monterey Bay between Moss Landing and Watsonville, it was diverted 6 miles south to a new channel just north of Marina . </P> <P> Between 227,000 and 300,000 people were left homeless out of a population of about 410,000; half of those who evacuated fled across the bay to Oakland and Berkeley . Newspapers described Golden Gate Park, the Presidio, the Panhandle and the beaches between Ingleside and North Beach as covered with makeshift tents . More than two years later, many of these refugee camps were still in operation . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Selected Mercalli intensities </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> MMI </Th> <Th> Locations </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> XI (Extreme) </Td> <Td> San Francisco, Santa Rosa </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> X (Extreme) </Td> <Td> Sebastopol, San Bruno </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> IX (Violent) </Td> <Td> San Jose, Point Arena </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> VIII (Severe) </Td> <Td> Eureka, Salinas </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> VII (Very strong) </Td> <Td> Truckee, Parkfield </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> VI (Strong) </Td> <Td> Willows, Fresno </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> V (Moderate) </Td> <Td> Chico, Paso Robles </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="3"> U.S. Earthquake Intensity Database, NGDC </Td> </Tr> </Table>

Earthquake and fire of 1906 in san francisco