There have been more than a dozen damaging earthquakes in the
Bay Area in the last 200 years. The southern segment of the Hayward fault
was the source of a large magnitude earthquake in 1868, estimated to be
about magnitude 7. This quake shook the Bay Area at 7:50 am on October
21st 1868. Destruction was greatest in the City of Hayward where almost
every building was damaged and many were completely wrecked
The brick courthouse in San Leandro was severely damaged in the 1868 Hayward earthquake.
Buildings in San Francisco that were on land-fill also suffered
considerable damage in the 1868 Hayward earthquake.