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Geography
San Francisco lies near the San Andreas Fault; a major source of
earthquake activity in California. The most serious earthquake,
in 1906, is mentioned above. Earlier significant quakes rocked the
city in 1851, 1858, 1865, and 1868. The Daly City Earthquake of
1957 caused some damage. The Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989, which
also did significant damage to parts of the city, is also famous
for having interrupted a World Series baseball game between the
Bay Area's two Major League Baseball teams, the San Francisco Giants
and the Oakland Athletics.
The threat of another major earthquake like the 1906 one plays
a major role in the city's infrastructure development. New buildings
must be built to very high structural standards, while many dollars
must be spent to retrofit the city's older buildings and bridges.
Entire neighborhoods of the city such as the Marina and Hunters
Point were created and sit on man made landfill (made up of mud,
sand, and rubble from past earthquakes) and other reclaimation projects
over the San Francisco Bay when flatland became scarce. Such land
is extremely unstable during earthquakes; the resultant liquefaction
during earthquakes causes extensive damage to property built upon
it, as was evidenced in the Marina district during the 1989 Loma
Prieta Earthquake.
San Francisco is famous for its hills and the streets which run
straight up and down them. Three of San Francisco's notable hill
neighborhoods are Nob Hill, Russian Hill, and Telegraph Hill, all
located near Downtown.
Near the geographic center of the city and away from the downtown
area are a series of less populated hills. Dominating this area
is Mount Sutro, which is the site of Sutro Tower, a large red and
white radio transmission tower, that is a well known landmark to
city residents. Nearby are the equally well known Twin Peaks, which
are a pair of hills resting at one of the city's highest points.
About 1.2km (1 mile) south of Mount Sutro is San Francisco's highest
mountain, Mount Davidson, which is over 282 meters (over 925 feet)
high. On top of Mount Davidson is a 31.4 meter (103 foot) tall cross
built in 1934.
Not to be missed are the beautiful homes and area of the city known
as Pacific Heights as well as victorians in the Haight-Ashbury and
the "painted ladies" of Alamo Square and the Castro. San
Francisco is also famous for its Cable cars (narrow gauge, 1067
mm (3'6")), which were designed to carry residents up those
steep hills. It is still possible to take a cable car ride up and
down Nob and Russian Hills. Along with New Orleans' streetcars,
San Francisco's cable cars are one of only two mobile United States
National Monuments. Coit Tower, a notable landmark dedicated to
San Francisco's firefighters, is located at the top of Telegraph
Hill.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city and county
has a total area of 600.7 km² (231.9 mi²). 120.9 km²
(46.7 mi²) of it is land and 479.7 km² (185.2 mi²)
of it is water. The total area is 79.86% water. The city itself
is often reputed to be roughly a seven mile by seven mile square,
but in fact it is slightly smaller, 46.7 mi², of which .33
mi² are the Farallon Islands.
The geographical center of the city is on the east side of Grandview
Avenue between Alvarado and Twenty-third Streets.
San Francisco and northern San Mateo County, from NASA Landsat 7
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