San Francisco Quake Survivor
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Communications > Certification Tests
Mar 1, 2007
Charlie Karpowsky
San Francisco Quake Survivor
Born on January 10, 1903 (103 years old), Herbert Hamrol is one of the oldest employees at the grocery store where he works arranging shelves two days a week.
"I've been there going on 68 years. Two days a week ? and you wouldn't want to work for nicer people."
But this year his celebrity status has increased ten-fold, because he is one of the Eyewitness survivors of the 1906 San Francisco quake (the San Francisco earthquake and fire of April 18, 1906 - 05:12 AM local time), which killed thousands of people and nearly destroyed the city ? More than 3000 Deaths, Injuries: ~225,000, Property Damage: $ 400,000,000 in 1906 $
"As small as I was, I remember my mother carrying me down the stairs with her left arm as she held onto the banister," said Hamrol, trying to recall memories from 100 years ago this week, memories from the day that transformed his life.
Painful memories
Hamrol and his family lived downtown, where his father worked as a grocer and his mother took care of the children. He remembers the family having to pack up and leave for Chicago to stay with relatives after the quake. After just a few days in the Windy City, the family came back to the Bay Area. His parents seldom spoke of the tragic day. "I think it was just too painful for them," he explained. Hamrol has one enduring memory - the feeling of his mother?s arm.
?She carried me in her left arm and used her right hand to grab the stair rail,? said the 103-year-old Hamrol. ?That?s all I remember.?
Like Hamrol, Violet Lyman was just three when the estimated 7.8 magnitude quake ((The "traditional" magnitude of 8.3 for this earthquake was based on work by Richter [1958]. More recent research indicates that estimates in the range from 7.7 to 7.9 are more reliable.)) shook her house so hard it threw her uncle out of bed. Her family survived and managed to relocate, but she remembers how many others were not so lucky.
"It was tough because people had no homes, no food, no nothing," said Lyman. Violet Lyman, could still see a cow running along a street and smell smoke from the fires.
The quake left more than 225,000 people homeless. Many of them lived in tent cities set up throughout the area.
Chaos and panic
The oldest person who survived the quake is 109-year-old Chrissie Mortensen remembered the smell of smoke from a city in flames.
"People gathered their possessions, taking carts, or whatever they had, to move out to the park, or any place they could camp," recalled Mortensen, who was in third grade at the time.
Lyman?s family decided to leave the city. Although the quake didn't destroy her home, food was so scarce that her mother had to wait in line every day for rations distributed by the Navy (U.S. Navy Operations During the 1906 Earthquake and Fire : U.S. Navy Firefighting Operations, Operations of the U.S.F.S. Chicago During the San Francisco Fire, Operations of the U.S.S. Boston, Operations of the U.S.S. Princeton, Establishment of Curtin Hospital, Praise for Lieutenant Freeman, Gov. Pardee's Belated Letter of Thanks to the U.S. Navy).
One day an officer noticed her mother wearing a sailor cap and asked if anyone in the family was in the Navy. Her mom answered ?yes,? and was told to pack up her things. The next day several officers moved the whole family up to Vallejo, where they remained.
Celeb status 100 years later
San Francisco celebrated and mourned an infamous anniversary early this morning, 100 years to the minute after the city shook and burned in the great earthquake and fire of 1906.
This year Lyman will participate in a 1906 quake anniversary event.
"It's taken me over 100 [years] to become famous!" she quips.
And a century later, Hamrol says he and other survivors are proud to call themselves native sons and daughters of San Francisco ? a city that went through one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history.
"I think it's a marvelous achievement that the city of San Francisco has done to come back from something like that," he declared.
"I've been there going on 68 years. Two days a week ? and you wouldn't want to work for nicer people."
But this year his celebrity status has increased ten-fold, because he is one of the Eyewitness survivors of the 1906 San Francisco quake (the San Francisco earthquake and fire of April 18, 1906 - 05:12 AM local time), which killed thousands of people and nearly destroyed the city ? More than 3000 Deaths, Injuries: ~225,000, Property Damage: $ 400,000,000 in 1906 $
"As small as I was, I remember my mother carrying me down the stairs with her left arm as she held onto the banister," said Hamrol, trying to recall memories from 100 years ago this week, memories from the day that transformed his life.
Painful memories
Hamrol and his family lived downtown, where his father worked as a grocer and his mother took care of the children. He remembers the family having to pack up and leave for Chicago to stay with relatives after the quake. After just a few days in the Windy City, the family came back to the Bay Area. His parents seldom spoke of the tragic day. "I think it was just too painful for them," he explained. Hamrol has one enduring memory - the feeling of his mother?s arm.
?She carried me in her left arm and used her right hand to grab the stair rail,? said the 103-year-old Hamrol. ?That?s all I remember.?
Like Hamrol, Violet Lyman was just three when the estimated 7.8 magnitude quake ((The "traditional" magnitude of 8.3 for this earthquake was based on work by Richter [1958]. More recent research indicates that estimates in the range from 7.7 to 7.9 are more reliable.)) shook her house so hard it threw her uncle out of bed. Her family survived and managed to relocate, but she remembers how many others were not so lucky.
"It was tough because people had no homes, no food, no nothing," said Lyman. Violet Lyman, could still see a cow running along a street and smell smoke from the fires.
The quake left more than 225,000 people homeless. Many of them lived in tent cities set up throughout the area.
Chaos and panic
The oldest person who survived the quake is 109-year-old Chrissie Mortensen remembered the smell of smoke from a city in flames.
"People gathered their possessions, taking carts, or whatever they had, to move out to the park, or any place they could camp," recalled Mortensen, who was in third grade at the time.
Lyman?s family decided to leave the city. Although the quake didn't destroy her home, food was so scarce that her mother had to wait in line every day for rations distributed by the Navy (U.S. Navy Operations During the 1906 Earthquake and Fire : U.S. Navy Firefighting Operations, Operations of the U.S.F.S. Chicago During the San Francisco Fire, Operations of the U.S.S. Boston, Operations of the U.S.S. Princeton, Establishment of Curtin Hospital, Praise for Lieutenant Freeman, Gov. Pardee's Belated Letter of Thanks to the U.S. Navy).
One day an officer noticed her mother wearing a sailor cap and asked if anyone in the family was in the Navy. Her mom answered ?yes,? and was told to pack up her things. The next day several officers moved the whole family up to Vallejo, where they remained.
Celeb status 100 years later
San Francisco celebrated and mourned an infamous anniversary early this morning, 100 years to the minute after the city shook and burned in the great earthquake and fire of 1906.
This year Lyman will participate in a 1906 quake anniversary event.
"It's taken me over 100 [years] to become famous!" she quips.
And a century later, Hamrol says he and other survivors are proud to call themselves native sons and daughters of San Francisco ? a city that went through one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history.
"I think it's a marvelous achievement that the city of San Francisco has done to come back from something like that," he declared.
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My name is Charlie, I first came to the bay area with friends in 1971, shortly after my return from Vietnam. I enjoyed some of the best times the city had to offer then. thesanfrancisconewsblog.com/
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