In the early morning of April 18 , 1906 , a large earthquake with an epicenter near the city of San Francisco hit the region . Immediate casualty estimates by the U.S. Army 's relief operations were 498 deaths in San Francisco , 64 deaths in Santa Rosa , and 102 in or near San Jose , for a total of about 700 . More recent studies estimate the total death count to be over 3,000 , with over 28,000 buildings destroyed . Rebuilding efforts began immediately . Amadeo Peter Giannini , owner of the Bank of Italy ( now known as the Bank of America ) , had managed to retrieve the money from his bank 's vaults before fires broke out through the city and was the only bank with liquid funds readily available and was instrumental in loaning out funds for rebuilding efforts . Congress immediately approved plans for a reservoir in Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park , a plan they had denied a few years earlier , which now provides drinking water for 2.4 million people in the Bay Area . By 1915 , the city had been sufficiently rebuilt and advertised itself to the world during the Panama Pacific Exposition that year , although the effects of the quake hastened the loss of the region 's dominant status in California to the Los Angeles metropolitan area
a large earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
San Francisco Bay Area