A group of laborers appear to be cleaning building blocks for later use in the rebuilding of San Francisco. A soldier with a Springfield Rifle 03 is picking up something. On April 18, 1906 at 5:15 AM a quake of 8.25 on the Richter scale hit San Francisco. Greater destruction came from the fires afterwards. The city burned for three days. The combination destroyed 490 city blocks and 25,000 buildings, leaving 250,000 homeless and killing between 450 and 700. Estimated damages, over $350 million