I love panoramics. Even when they call it virtual reality. Here is an online magazine devoted to the latest in panos. Lots and lots and lots of panos, articles about those who make them, and related stuff.

VRMAG

THE 1906 SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE REVISITED

When: Shot sometime shortly after April 18, 1906

What: The city of San Francisco, California had just experienced a violent earthquake that morning at approx. 5:15 a.m. First there was a foreshock, followed by the earthquake 20 to 25 seconds later, which lasted from 45 to 60 seconds. The quake was felt from southern Oregon to south of Los Angeles and as far east as central Nevada. It’s estimated that the quake registered 8.25 on the Richter scale and the epicenter was near San Francisco. The fires burned for three days before burning themselves out and much damage was caused by the dynamite set to try to contain them. Between 450 and 700 were killed and 250,000 left homeless.

Who : Eyewitness Max Fast, from ‘the San Francisco Earthquake, 1906’:
"When the fire caught the Windsor Hotel at Fifth and Market Streets there were three men on the roof, and it was impossible to get them down. Rather than see the crazed men fall in with the roof and be roasted alive the military officer directed his men to shoot them, which they did in the presence of 5,000 people."

How: William Donelson and William Beckett of Armchair Travel recently discovered this old partial panoramic picture, which they cleaned up and converted to a 360-degree format.

  thanks to panoramas.dk