The 1906 earthquake that devastated San Francisco marked a famous moment in history, but it was a relatively anonymous quake some 50 years prior that showed just how much energy California's faults can disperse. In 1857, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake ruptured about 360 kilometers (225 miles) along California's San Andreas Fault. It was the same magnitude as the San Francisco quake, but displaced the earth to a much greater extent. More >