Odor Across San Francisco

Also, according to Edgar Larkin (1906), who collected a great many accounts, the odour of hydrogen sulphide was noted in the area of Sausalito

He also reported that sulfurous odors were pungent in Napa County during the night of the 17th and 18th before the upheaval, and lasted all day

In Santa Rosa, according to Lawson and others (1908), a strong smell of sulphur had been noticed two days before the earthquake by one Charles Kobes. Since during an earthquake eight years previously, "sulfur fumes came up from under his house which almost drove his family from home", the recurrence of this phenomenon on 16 April 1906 caused Kobes to tell his family that there would be another earthquake

Numerous indications of hydrogen sulphide in bodies of water were reported. According to Larkin (1906), "creeks became milky in several places as if gas escaped from the water

on the day of the quake, there were thousands of strange fish floating on the water a few miles offshore

Again, hydrogen sulphide, which is highly toxic to fish, seems a likely explanation

Dogs, pigs, horses, cows and many other animals seem to show signs of restlessness or extreme disturbance prior to major earthquakes, and I would attribute this to their ability to smell the outflow of ground gases much more readily than humans and to be altogether much more concerned about smells. In San Francisco the major reports of this nature concerned the behaviour of dogs (Lawson et al., 1908), which are reported to have been howling during the night preceding the earthquake