2/5/2019 1964: Alaska's Good Friday Earthquake - The Atlantic
1964: Alaska's Good Friday
Earthquake
ALAN TAYLOR | MAY 30, 2014 | 36 PHOTOS | IN FOCUS
On March 27, 1964, a megathrust earthquake struck
Alaska, about 15 miles below Prince William Sound,
halfway between Anchorage and Valdez. The quake had a
moment magnitude of 9.2, making it the second most
powerful earthquake ever recorded. The initial quake and
subsequent underwater landslides caused numerous
tsunamis, which inflicted heavy damage on the coastal
towns of Valdez, Whittier, Seward, and Kodiak. Alaska's
biggest city, Anchorage, suffered numerous landslides,
destroying city blocks and neighborhoods. An estimated
139 people were killed, most by tsunamis -- including 16
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1. The rails in this approach to a railroad bridge near the
head of Turnagain Arm, southeast of Anchorage, were
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2/5/2019 1964: Alaska's Good Friday Earthquake - The Atlantic
2. A photographer looks over wreckage as smoke rises
in the background from burning oil storage tanks in
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3. Downtown Anchorage, the collapse of Fourth Avenue
near C Street, due to a landslide caused by the
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2/5/2019 1964: Alaska's Good Friday Earthquake - The Atlantic
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4. The dock area, a tank farm, and railroad facilities in
Whittier, Alaska were severely damaged by surge-
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5. The waterfront of Seward, Alaska, weeks after the
earthquake, looking north. Note the "scalloped"
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2/5/2019 1964: Alaska's Good Friday Earthquake - The Atlantic
6. Smoke rises high into the Alaska sky from burning oil
tanks in Whittier, on March 30, 1964. #
AP Photo
7. The Four Seasons Apartments in Anchorage was a
six-story lift-slab reinforced concrete building which
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8. An unidentified man sits at a desk beside hi-fi sets
moved to the middle of Fourth Avenue in Anchorage on
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9. The marquee of the Denali Theater sits even with the
street in Anchorage. The building's foundation subsided
until the marquee came to rest on the sidewalk. #
U.S. Geological Survey
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2/5/2019 1964: Alaska's Good Friday Earthquake - The Atlantic
10. The path of destruction made by the quake in
Alaska followed by a tsunami can be seen in this aerial
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11. Chaotic condition of the commercial section of
Kodiak following inundation by seismic sea waves. The
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12. A view of the destruction of Valdez, Alaska. Thirty-
one residents died during the earthquake and
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13. Chaos on the waterfront in Seward, burned-out
vehicles and rail cars strewn across the ruined rail yard.
#
NOAA
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14. A mother stands watch as her child plays in a
puddle of water near her earthquake-shattered home in
Kodiak, Alaska in March of 1964. #
AP Photo/File
15. Tsunami damage and high-water line at Seward.
The tsunami waves washed the snow from the lower
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2/5/2019 1964: Alaska's Good Friday Earthquake - The Atlantic
16. The roof of a structure dragged into an Alaskan bay
after the 1964 earthquake. #
NOAA
17. Support columns punched through the deck of the
Twentymile River Bridge, as it collapsed during the
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2/5/2019 1964: Alaska's Good Friday Earthquake - The Atlantic
18. Government Hill Elementary School in Anchorage,
destroyed by the Government Hill landslide. #
U.S. Geological Survey
19. In an Anchorage neighborhood, a wooden fence at
the toe of the L Street landslide, buckled and shortened
by compression. #
U.S. Geological Survey
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20. An Anchorage neighborhood name Turnagain
Heights was partially destroyed by a landslide shortly
after the earthquake. #
W.R. Hansen/U.S. Geological Survey
21. The jumbled ground of Turnagain Heights, after the
landslide. #
NOAA
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2/5/2019 1964: Alaska's Good Friday Earthquake - The Atlantic
22. Damaged homes in the Turnagain Heights landslide
area in Anchorage. #
U.S. Geological Survey
23. A wider aerial view of the Turnagain Heights
landslide. Most of this area is now a park - you can see
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24. An earthquake-and-landslide-damaged
neighborhood in Anchorage, Alaska. #
AP Photo
25. This highway embankment fissured and spread,
cracking down the middle. The road was built on thick
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26. The village of Portage, at the head of Turnagain
Arm, flooded at high tide as a result of 6 feet of tectonic
subsidence during the earthquake. #
U.S. Geological Survey
27. With the city under martial law, soldiers patrol a
downtown street in Anchorage, Alaska, on March 28,
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2/5/2019 1964: Alaska's Good Friday Earthquake - The Atlantic
28. Anchorage small business owners clear salvageable
items and equipment from their earthquake-ravaged
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29. The head of the L Street landslide in Anchorage.
The land on the left side sank 7 to 10 feet in response to
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2/5/2019 1964: Alaska's Good Friday Earthquake - The Atlantic
30. A man and his wife carry a load of possessions from
their earthquake-shattered home in Anchorage, Alaska,
on March 31, 1964. #
AP Photo
31. A fractured city block in Anchorage, Alaska, on
March 28, 1964. #
AP Photo
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2/5/2019 1964: Alaska's Good Friday Earthquake - The Atlantic
32. One span of the 'Million Dollar bridge' of the defunct
Copper River and Northwestern Railroad was dropped
into the Copper River by the earthquake. #
U.S. Geological Survey
33. A fishing boat and buoy, washed ashore by tsunami
waves in Seward, Alaska. #
NOAA
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2/5/2019 1964: Alaska's Good Friday Earthquake - The Atlantic
34. A forlorn couple stands on a concrete dock viewing
the remains of the Kodiak waterfront on March 29, 1964.
#
AP Photo
35. Trees up to 24 inches in diameter and 100 feet
above sea level were broken and splintered by the
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2/5/2019 1964: Alaska's Good Friday Earthquake - The Atlantic
36. This truck was bent around a tree by the surge
waves generated by the underwater landslides along
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