John Farish, an engineer who was staying at one of the city's finest hotels in St. Francis, remembered the very early morning of Wednesday, April 18, 1906. I was awakened by a loud noise, which might be compared to the mixed sounds of a strong wind flowing through a forest and the breaking of waves against a rock. In less time than it takes to tell, a shake, similar to that caused by a nearby explosion (爆炸), shook the building to its bases and it began a series of the most lively movements. Together with a frightening sound, it was followed by big crashes (碰撞) as the neighboring buildings and chimneys fell to the ground.
A few blocks away, in a comfortable room in the Palace Hotel, the world's greatest singer, Enrico Caruso, was asleep after a good performance at the Opera House the night before. He awoke to find: Everything in the room was going round and round. The light was trying to touch the ceiling and the chairs were all chasing each other. Crash — crash — crash! It was a terrible scene. Everywhere the walls were falling and clouds of yellow dust were rising. My God, I thought it would never stop!
And at the same moment, in another part of the city, Jesse Cook, a policeman, reported: The whole street was undulating (起伏波动). It was as if the waves of the ocean were coming toward me, and waving as they came.
It was, of course, an earthquake, one of the largest ever that hit North America, and the first of 27 separate quakes that day. The first shock — at 5: 12: 05 a. m. — lasted more than 40 seconds. It was by far the largest, about 8. 3 on the Richter scale; its epicenter (震源) was just off the coast, around the Pacific.
