357-Scenes From an Earthquake

The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 is remembered for its destructive intensity and terrible death toll. But the scale of the disaster can mask some remarkable personal stories. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the experiences of some of the survivors, which ranged from the horrific to the surreal.

We'll also consider a multilingual pun and puzzle over a deadly reptile.

Intro:

In the 1600s, a specialized verb described the carving of each dish.

The Earls of Leicester kept quiet in Parliament.

An iconic image: The quake toppled a marble statue of Louis Agassiz from its perch on the second floor of Stanford's zoology building. Sources for our feature:

Malcolm E. Barker, Three Fearful Days, 1998.

Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts, The San Francisco Earthquake: A Minute-by-Minute Account of the 1906 Disaster, 2014.

Louise Chipley Slavicek, The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906, 2008.

Richard Schwartz, Earthquake Exodus, 1906: Berkeley Responds to the San Francisco Refugees, 2005.

Gordon Thomas, The San Francisco Earthquake, 1971.

Edward F. Dolan, Disaster 1906: The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, 1967.

William Bronson, The Earth Shook, the Sky Burned, 1959.

Charles Morris, The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire: As Told by Eyewitnesses, 1906.

Alexander Olson, "Writing on Rubble: Dispatches from San Francisco, 1906," KNOW: A Journal on the Formation of Knowledge 3:1 (Spring 2019), 93-121.

Susanne Leikam, "The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire," Journal of Transnational American Studies 7:1 (2016).

Penny Allan and Martin Bryant, "The Critical Role of Open Space in Earthquake Recovery: A Case Study," EN: Proceedings of the 2010 NZSEE Conference, 2010.

Brad T. Aagaard and Gregory C. Beroza, "The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake a Century Later: Introduction to the Special Section," Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 98:2 (2008), 817-822.

Jeffrey L. Arnold, "The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake: A Centennial Contemplation," Prehospital and Disaster Medicine 21:3 (2006), 133-134.

"... and Then the Fire Was Worse Than the Earthquake ...," American History 41:1 (April 2006), 34-35.

Andrea Henderson, "The Human Geography of Catastrophe: Family Bonds, Community Ties, and Disaster Relief After the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire," Southern California Quarterly 88:1 (Spring 2006), 37-70.

Kristin Schmachtenberg, "1906 Letter to the San Francisco Health Department," Social Education 70:3 (2006).

Laverne Mau Dicker, "The San Francisco E