identities may or may not look like yours.

>> i want to welcome all of you to the earthquake and fire commemoration. we are at the corner and center of old san francisco. before facebook, it was the place to be. if you stood here long enough, you could see everyone you knew. i know everybody here. good morning. it is fitting that we gather here in anticipation of -- to commemorate those who died and those who lived. this is our 105th anniversary. it is dedicated to those brave and spirited souls who perished and survived the recent earthquake in japan. it was the most powerful recorded in the country. here is what is going to happen. at around 5:00, the festivities get going in full force. how about a nice hand for the

san francisco conservatory brass ensemble over here? [applause] the opening part is the tough part. we will get to that. it is going to be great. at 5:00 a.m., our survivor motorcade begins with our 105 your old --105-year-old survivor. the that was in "the chronicle." along with the survivor will be the mayor ed lee. our very favorite fire chief will be here. also, and kronenberg will be

year. we will be hanging a wreath. we will have sirens and a countdown. we will head to the golden fire hydrant paintings ceremony. after that, there will be a $20 breakfast with bloody mary's at lefty's. a portion of that will go to the commemoration. i want to make a couple of announcements related to the honored guests and sponsors. we have to keep this going. first, our 1906 survivor will be here.

he will tell us how to make and lose and make money in the stock market. we will have the fire hat award winners. our sponsors, "the san francisco chronicle," the san francisco history association, the guardians of the city, the brewing company, scott seligmann from the bank and trust, st. francis, john's grill since 1908, the left ty o 'douls, and photographs.

the event coordinators. the day from the chronicle is here. with someone from emergency management. we have someone from sfpd. we have the guardians of the center and ron ross from the history association. we are about 10 minutes away from the motorcade showing up. we have come together at this ungodly hour to remember those who survived being tossed from their beds 105 years ago this morning at 5:13. 105 years ago, powerful seismic waves rolled across the city of san francisco.

experts estimate the earthquake was around 7.9 on the modern skills. by the end of the first day, the city suffered 26 aftershocks and then succumbed to a raging inferno that showed no mercy for 74 hours. i would like to give you a moment by moment description of what happened to our great city on that day and its citizens. this is not boring history. this is very real, as we all saw recently in japan. here is how it went. an opening shock at 5:12 was felt. 25 seconds later, residents were zerawakened. the first casualties from the massive earthquake occurred when tenements in the market district collapsed. more victims are added to the death toll as the collapsed

structures caught fire. the man the city would need most to fight the fires, the chief, was fatally wounded when the hotel collapsed onto his fire station home. telephone and telegraph communication was impossible. a few messages were sent around the world by cable before the line failed. the mayor was unaware of the severity of the quake until anxious city officials arrived at his door. he left the safety of his home to head downtown to see for himself the enormous scale of the disaster. at 6:30, all available troops are ordered to report to the hall of justice. 1700 soldiers come to the rescue. a major aftershock causes more damage. the city suffers 26 aftershocks.

each one slows down the rescue effort. the fires raged and spread. they do not stop until 74 hours later. many buildings collapsed. the firefighters began dynamiting the buildings to create fire breaks. the temporary hospital outside of city hall was abandoned. the injured are forced to evacuate to camps on the edge of town. at 3:00 p.m., the mayor appoints his committee of 50. hearing reports of looting, the mayor gives a shoot-to-kill proclamation against looters. the we have any looters here this morning? [laughter] at 8:00, and hopes are dashed. at 9:00 p.m., firefighters make a stand at union square. the fire breaches the line and

continues relentlessly. on thursday, april 19, the california governor arrives to assess damage. the three main newspapers in san francisco broke the presses of the oakland paper to print a special joint edition. the uss chicago on arrives in san francisco bay to help with the relief efforts. the great fire reaches van ness. facing a decision on the allows them to create a firebreak. this means abandoning dozens of city blocks to the fire. the rich spectators who spent the day watching the fires finally realize their homes will not be saved and will soon burn. finally, here we go. page four.

9:00 p.m., i already did that. here we go. 5:00 a.m. on friday, the firebreak in van ness polls. the inferno is halted. the mayor makes an announcement declaring victory. they rescued 20,000 refugees. it was an unprecedented evacuation by sea. at 7:15 a.m., after all flames are extinguished, the mayor declares the fire over. on sunday, cable cars began running again on market street. [applause] no one knows when the next great quake will come. but san francisco is doomed to relive the horrific events because the san andreas fault never rests. it may start tomorrow or 100 years ago. it may strike as the city sleeps tonight. there is your history. dear it is. [applause]

-- there is. the world's fastest read in four minutes. we have an announcement from the city's finest. we have to clear the island. which island? that is where the motorcade will be coming from. also, the intersection. we have to clear the street. give dave a hand. nice outfit, by the way. they will be here in about five minutes. we have to do our countdown. it is 4:57 right now. all right. bill del monte will be here.

he is in great shape. i saw him last night. he is 105. he had a glass of wine. i was impressed by that. he will be here. we will have a chance to see him from the car. mayor lee will be with him in the motorcade along with the fire chief and the new police chief. that happens in three minutes. how are we doing? here is my lovely assistant. let's hear it for him. he is looking good. he is a graduate of st. francis high school. and usf. any questions so far? that is just a regular cop. it is a little early for drunk driving. we also want to thank the great

management teams. the department of emergency management that handles the dispatch services are charged with disaster planning and response, a personal emergency preparedness,, and oversight of the ems in the county. as a reminder, there is no better time to do what you can do to be better prepared for the next earthquake disaster. nert -- [applause] the neighborhood emergency response team provides retraining for individuals, neighborhood groups, and community organizations. individuals learn the basics of personal preparedness and prevention. they celebrated 20 years of community trading. congratulations. [siren] this is looking familiar. year we go.

let's have a nice hand for the motorcade showing up. -- here we go. yes. [sirens] [applause] wow. perfect [sirens] there we go. that is a great looking fire engine. that is the rescue company. is our a survivor here? should i bring the microphone out to talk to them? where is my system? -- where is my assistant? here we are.

all right. mr. mayor, how are you? it is nice to see you. how are you? how are you feeling today, bill? i saw you last night at john's grill having a good time. where did you stay the night? is this thing on? what can you tell us about 105 years of life? you were only a couple months old. >> just what they told me, the rest of the family. >> your father started a battalion. >> in 1886. 1896.

>> i was hearing your experiences as a stock picker. >> yes, i am still playing. it is a pleasure. >>. were you made $1 million from a loss $1 million, made $1 million. -- i was reading where you made $1 million, lost $1 million, and made $1 million. >> that is the stock market. >> you look like you are feeling better than last year. [laughter] do you have any advice for someone to live 105 years? >> that is what they all ask. i do not know. >> if it comes to you, let me know. we're all curious. how about a hand for our earthquake survivor? [applause] where did mayor lee go?

let's talk to people. one more time for the motorcade and bill del monte. [applause] mr. mayor. let's go this way. all right. step up here. it is slippery. it is great to see you. how are you enjoying your first 500 days? >> i am enjoying it. i enjoyed meeting everybody as early as we can all meet. this is great. this is a wonderful tradition. i am very happy to be here with our fire chief, police chief, and all of the city officials, all of the volunteers, the

wonderful american red cross for this event. this is a wonderful occasion. in addition to celebrating the 105th anniversary and welcoming mr. del monte, we are dedicating this to the survivors of the japan earthquake and tsunami. we're doing all we can to help that. this reminds us of all the things we have to continue doing for ourselves, our families. the things we're doing already have been successful. last friday, we kicked off one of the most exciting programs called ready neighborhoods. we joined the american red cross, department of emergency management, our fire chief, and pg&e that donated $1 million to kick off. all of the different languages,

we are changing rapidly in the city. we're going to get all of our vulnerable communities ready. i know everyone here is ready. i want to make sure that we dedicate this year to the survivors of japan. we are more ready ourselves as a city. i feel extremely confident we can survive anything that happens. all of you are here so early this morning with us. thank you very much. it is wonderful to be out here commemorating this with you. >> let's have a nice hand for the mayor. [applause] i would like to welcome our chiefs to hang the wreath. come on up here, donna. it is good to see you.

i am not sure how we hang this. all right. it is like how many people you can fit in a phone booth. this is interesting. wow. i am counting on you. i am falling here. joanne has done this a few times before. there we go. perfect. nice going. can you dunk? [laughter] [applause]

i have not met you. jeff would like to say a few words. >> it is my pleasure to be here. the mayor said he needed a tall guy hang the wreath. that is why i am here. >> chief white is here to say a few words about san francisco safety. >> thank you for coming out here. we're celebrating 105 years. we're getting close to 105 years ago when the city had the earthquake. we learned a lot from 19 06 and 1989. we want to commemorate those who lost their lives. we want to commemorate the safety responders. we want to celebrate the resilience of the city. we're here to remember our history. san francisco is all about history and tradition. the main thing we want to learn this from our past.

we need to be prepared and pull together in an emergency. i love seeing the yellow helmets. thank you to our nert volunteers and the emergency management department. ross mirkarimi is here. thank you, jeff. it was very easy hanging the wreath. is one of our greatest mares. ed lee has always prioritized readiness in our city. thank you to bob. >> i want to get a picture with the chief. i am the new mayor of san francisco after ed. ann, come on up.

say a couple of words. this is tough. it is great to see you. good morning. >> thank you. good morning. thank you for coming out. i want to thank everyone for being here. just a reminder, please be prepared. go to our website, 72hours.org. it tells you what you need to know. put togetherdebt prepared. it is going to happen again. every year, we commemorate the lives lost. i think we're in much better shape right now, but be better prepared. thank you. >> i will make sure i get a bunch of canned goods and gatorade down here.

all right, one quick message. this year we are dedicating at this as an annual commemoration to the survivors of the recent earthquake and the tsunami in japan, and two other survivors we know what, rose who is 108 her friend. they wanted to sleep in this morning. san francisco is the great survivor of the earthquake. how about a nice hand for all our dignitaries to came out this evening? it is almost 10 after. we will start the countdown. i am going to stall for a minute. is that what i am going to do? let's see. the giants lost. we have a lollipop. oh, yeah, we're is shocked.

-- where is chop? -- chuck? yes. let's get a picture of mary c -- jobless and variety. that's right. chuck, do you have any words of wisdom this morning? >> don't be a sucker. >> san francisco is a wonderful survivor. >> make sure you get a lollipop. they are out there. i want to thank every one who supported the reconstruction of fine arts, and that to me is a symbol. please take a look at it. it is beautiful. >> does everybody have their programs? hey, dave.

i have got mine. at 5:11, we do the one-minute countdown. is that when we go with the siren, david? what time does that say? i cannot see through 100 people. 20 seconds. all right. 20 seconds until our countdown. now. all right -- one minute? ok. tell me where i am right now. 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. [siren]

>> come on! come on! >> its seems rather apropos, or i do not know what you would call it. it is time for the moment of silence. but we have mayor willie brown here. it is tough to think about a moment of silence when the mayor shows up. >> 0, the mayor. >> good to see you. >> before we had a moment of silence, we might have a moment of talk from willie brown. good morning. >> good morning to you. this is always such a great occasion. we have someone who is 105 here, their family has contributed so much to san francisco, and to have the two people who slept

in, it makes it even more interesting. the governor is right. after you finish your, you really ought to go out and see the fire plug on what is it? 20th and church. and then sashay on over to fine arts. he will do the complete san francisco trip. >> thank you. a nice hand for mayor willie brown, everybody. let's have a minute of silence. is that right, dave? right now. a minute of silence.