This Lubin actuality of the aftermath of the San Francisco Earthquake begins with a group of men, pans to the left, and the people vanish, leaving only the shattered landscape.
Three young women are smiling and playing in a lake, their nude bodies reflecting in the water, when a forest watcher appears from the wood, and chases them away.
Footage shot not long after the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco is edited together so that more than one scene and more than one vantage are included.
It is a dramatic film, with its colossal explosion and smouldering remains. Within seconds of the chimney's collapse, crowds swarm in to inspect the site; issues of the crowd's health and safety are clearly not a concern, as people smile, wave and salute the camera.