In the early 1900s, San Francisco stood as a proud and flourishing symbol of America's recent conquest of the once-wild West. But on April 19, 1906, the city would experience an awesome reminder of the uncontrollable forces lying dormant just beneath the splendors of its cosmopolitan surface. Thirty times more powerful than the temblor that decimated northern California in 1989, this earthquake measured a ground-wrenching 8.3 on the Richter scale, resulting in the worst catastrophe suffered by a North American city in the twentieth century. Captured in rare, newly restored movie footage from the period and the personal accounts of eyewitnesses, The great San Francisco earthquake is a breathtaking record of nature's unimaginable might and the survivors' equally impressive determination to rebuild their city and their lives.

Originally released in 2005 as a segment of the television program, American experience.

Introduction -- A city waiting to burn -- From earthquake to fire -- Out of the ashes -- The new San Francisco -- Credits.