Rom today in history blog:
April 18: General Interest
1906 : The Great San Francisco Earthquake
"At 5:13 a.m., an earthquake estimated at close to 8.0 on the Richter scale strikes San Francisco, California, killing hundreds of people as it topples numerous buildings. The quake was caused by a slip of the San Andreas Fault over a segment about 275 miles long, and shock waves could be felt from southern Oregon down to Los Angeles.
San Francisco's brick buildings and wooden Victorian structures were especially devastated. Fires immediately broke out and--because broken water mains prevented firefighters from stopping them--firestorms soon developed citywide. At 7 a.m., U.S. Army troops from Fort Mason reported to the Hall of Justice, and San Francisco Mayor E.E. Schmitz called for the enforcement of a dusk-to-dawn curfew and authorized soldiers to shoot-to-kill anyone found looting. Meanwhile, in the face of significant aftershocks, firefighters and U.S. troops fought desperately to control the ongoing fire, often dynamiting whole city blocks to create firewalls. On April 20, 20,000 refugees trapped by the massive fire were evacuated from the foot of Van Ness Avenue onto the USS Chicago.
By April 23, most fires were extinguished, and authorities commenced the task of rebuilding the devastated metropolis. It was estimated that some 3,000 people died as a result of the Great San Francisco Earthquake and the devastating fires it inflicted upon the city. Almost 30,000 buildings were destroyed, including most of the city's homes and nearly all the central business district."
VLG Comment: Not sure about the 20K evacuees on the warship Chicago but also true that several mass care shelters were established for the first time in US history. Also the use of troops was clearly unlawful although perhaps warranted. Humanitarian assistance only by those troops was lawful not law enforcement and such "shoot to kill orders" have long been determined to be unlawful across the board.
Recent appearance of an obsolete Field Manual from 1945 on the FAS website demonstrates however that until 1980 and the wrestling and tugging between DOJ and DOD was resolved by a brilliant monograph on use of the Armed Forces in riots and civil disorders by a now long deceased but brilliant DOJ lawyer Mary Lawton demonstrates that riots and civil disorders in the USA have long prompted violations of federal, state, and local law and the US Constitution. Shoot first and ask later not good enough.
