Panoramic View of San Francisco on April 1909 three years after the massive 8.25 earthquake of 1906. The view from 1000 feet above Jones and Washington Street, looking eastward. Goat Island (now Yerba Buena Island) in the San Francisco Bay, is in the upper far left. Mason Street cuts across right corner. 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