On April 18, 1906, a devastating earthquake rocked the city of San Francisco. What the earthquake didn't destroy, fire did. Much of the city lay in ruins, but plans were quickly put into place to rebuild the city. City and state officials downplayed the extent of the damage believing that if people knew the true story, they wouldn't invest in San Francisco's reconstruction. Building standards were lowered, some estimate by as much as 50%, in the rush to rebuild the city. Part of the rush to rebuild had to do with the Panama-Pacific Exposition that was to be held in the city in 1915.
