Home to hundreds of faults, California leads the nation in frequency of earthquakes every year. Despite enduring their share of the natural disasters, residents still speculate over the inevitable big one.

More than three thousand people lost their lives during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Long Beach’s 1933 earthquake caused a loss of nearly $50 million in damages. And the Northridge earthquake injured thousands and left a $550 million economic hit.

Historian Abraham Hoffman explores the personal accounts and aftermath of California’s most destructive tremors.