Alaska Earthquake
The Alaska Earthquake, also known as the Great Alaska Earthquake, struck on March 27, 1964, at approximately 5:30 p.m. local time, and was triggered by a shift in the Aleutian Trench fault line. With an epicenter located in Prince William Sound, the earthquake reached a magnitude of 9.2, making it one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded. The significant destruction was primarily concentrated in Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, where landslides and infrastructure damage resulted in substantial loss of life and property. Other cities such as Seward, Valdez, Cordova, and Kodiak also experienced major devastation. The earthquake generated massive tsunamis that traveled across the northern Pacific, impacting areas as far away as California and Oregon. In the aftermath, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared Alaska a disaster area, enabling federal assistance for recovery efforts. The economic and infrastructural impact was profound, with estimates of damage reaching $500 million, significantly affecting the state's economy. Aftershocks persisted for months, with over twelve thousand recorded, including one that measured 6.2. This disaster highlighted the critical need for federal support in rebuilding efforts, as Alaska's economy heavily relied on federal funding during that period.
Alaska Earthquake
Date: March 27, 1964
One of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded, registering 8.5 on the Richter scale. Because of the region’s sparse population, the number of dead and missing was relatively low, about one hundred people.
Origins and History
A shift in the Aleutian Trench, one of the fault lines that run from Chile along the eastern rim of the Americas all the way to Siberia, caused the earthquake, which hit at about 5:30 p.m. local time (10:30 p.m. Eastern standard time). The largest previously recorded earthquake on this fault, also an 8.5, had occurred in Chile on May 22, 1960.
The Quake
The earthquake’s epicenter was the northern edge of Prince William Sound, thirty to sixty miles below the surface, ten to thirty miles in extent, about one hundred and thirty miles from Anchorage, the state’s largest city. It was in Anchorage that the greatest loss of life and property occurred. Other Alaska cities suffering major damage were Seward, Valdez, Cordova, and Kodiak.
Metropolitan Anchorage, home to nearly one hundred thousand people, suffered spectacular destruction, much of it the result of landslides. Roads and airfields, including Elmendorf Air Base, were torn up and became impassable. For a time, the city was cut off from the rest of the world. The one-hundred-twenty-mile stretch of the Alaskan Railroad between Seward and Anchorage was virtually destroyed.
The earthquake spawned massive tidal waves, or tsunamis, that rolled through the northern Pacific at five hundred miles per hour. A deadly twelve-foot wave came ashore at night in Crescent City, California, more than two thousand miles to the south, claiming twenty-seven lives. Waves also killed campers at a beach near Depoe Bay, Oregon.
Impact
The day after the temblor hit, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared Alaska a disaster area, making it eligible for assistance from federal agencies such as the Office of Emergency Planning. Army troops began to patrol the streets of Anchorage as a precaution against looting.
As damage estimates in Alaska rose to five hundred million dollars, Governor William A. Egan asked for massive federal aid to allow the state to rebuild. Bankers in the Anchorage region, home to nearly half of the state’s population, declared that prospects for recovery were hopeless unless Washington intervened since 60 percent of the state’s total developed worth had been affected by the earthquake. The state was unable to dig out from under the ruins on its own since it produced relatively little wealth. About half of Alaska’s small income of seven hundred million dollars in 1963 came from employment by state, local, and federal authorities. Federal expenditures in Alaska were twice the national per-capita average. Inevitably, it was Washington, D.C., that paid the lion’s share for the rebuilding of Alaska’s infrastructure.
Subsequent Events
Aftershocks continued to shake the area for some time. In the three months following the earthquake, more than twelve thousand aftershocks, the strongest measured at 6.2, were recorded.
Additional Information
For scientific analyses of the earthquake, see The Prince William Sound, Alaska, Earthquake of 1964 and Aftershocks (1969), edited by Louis E. Leipold, and The Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964 (1970-1972), by the Committee on the Alaska Earthquake of the Division of Earth Sciences National Research Council.