I Remember the Great Alaskan Earthquake of 1964
Some moments are engraved on your memory, even as a child.
I’ve been thinking back 57 years ago and my memories of a certain day are vivid, The Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964.
Depending on your age, you may have mental snapshots that may include the Challenger shuttle disaster in 1985, the Waco siege in 1993, and the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995. Going back further we remember the Columbia crash in 2003 and of course, 9/11/2001 — strange perhaps, how they clearly we can recall traumatic memories.
As a ten-year-old child, the JFK’s assassination in 1963 and the Great Alaskan Earthquake four months later, March 27, 1964, remain vividly in my mind.
Where were you on March 27, 1964, at 5:36 p.m. AKST?
A lot of you weren’t even a glint in your daddy’s eye back then. But if you lived in Alaska back then, there’s no doubt what I’m referring to — the Great Alaskan Earthquake.
Across south-central Alaska, the ground rumbled and shook for four minutes and thirty-eight seconds, though it seemed like it would never stop. Crevasses opened, buildings collapsed, and tsunamis killed about 131 people.
The magnitude 9.2 is the most powerful earthquake recorded in North America. Only the 1960 earthquake in Valdivia, Chile, recorded at 9.4–9.6, is larger. Remember, scientists did not have seismographs before 1900, however. People felt the earthquake over most of mainland Alaska and in Seattle, Washington, more than 1,200 miles to the southeast, and the Space Needle swayed perceptibly. Rivers and lakes sloshed as far away as Texas and Louisiana.
Today, March 27, 2021, is the 57th Anniversary of the earthquake.
My mother always planned to write a book of her homesteading experiences in Alaska. She passed away, never collecting her journal entries into a book.
However, she left us her notes and I’ve been digging into them as I work on my memoir of childhood on our homestead.
Here is her first-hand unedited story of the Great Alaskan Earthquake.
April 6, 1964, Monday — my mom’s account of the March 27, 1964 earthquake.
We witnessed the Alaskan Earth Quake (which was a terrible disaster and yet a marvelous miracle).
It’s a good thing a person cannot foresee the future — for Good Friday 1964 saw the people of Anchorage, Alaska going about their business in a customary way at 5:36 P.M. — the fatal moment of the great quake.
“Where were you when the earthquake struck?” is now the dominating question when friends and neighbors meet.
Each answer relates a story of special significance — some heart-warming, others very, very sad and heartbreaking, there are a few that are humorous now — one week from the day. People are returning to normal, as much as possible, but this day will never be forgotten or erased in the minds and hearts of all Alaskans who experienced this disastrous earth-quake.
We live in Eagle River, Alaska — a small, wonderful Alaskan community fourteen miles from Anchorage. Our family, my husband, myself, and our five children reside on 160 acres of a homestead, approximately eleven miles back in Eagle River Valley — from the community of Eagle River.
On Good Friday the children were not attending school and we had planned to leave the children at a neighbor’s and go into Anchorage for an evening out.
My husband and I were on K Street in Anchorage, between 4th and 5th Ave., attempting to find a parking space when suddenly our Jeep commenced to shake. My first thought was that we had a flat tire, although I’d never felt a flat tire provoke such a sudden shaking. Bill said he wondered if a wheel was coming off but since our Jeep is new, neither idea seemed feasible.
A woman outside of her home, next to us, was trying to get on her feet and was unable to do so. She groped the ground for something to grasp — she looked aghast — unbelieving — crouched on all fours. Glancing across the street, people were coming out of their houses as the ground heaved — rose and fell — beneath them, leaving their houses slanted at crazy angles, roofs askew.
The road cracked in front of us, enormous trees ahead of us on the bluff of the inlet bent to touch the ground, rose and leaned again — the entire world rolled and rocked. I feared the sea would rise and envelop us all.When the earth heaved violently and the houses and street rose and fell to our left I was afraid it was the end of the world. I feared the entire valley where we lived would open up and swallow them.
Just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. All was askew. Al was silent. We were alive. Now, we must reach our children.
We didn’t stop to survey any damage. Bill said, “The big danger now is fire — oil, gas lines — we must get to the children.” It’s a miracle, in view of all the damage done, that there wasn’t a terrible fire.
As we reached Eagle River we saw part of the beautiful new Elementary School our children attend, which was considerably damaged, although still standing. People were clustered around the large new Market in the Shopping Center, glass all over.
Finally, our neighbor’s house was in sight — from outward appearances, all seemed fine. She came running out as we approached. I could see our children were fine. I was so thankful! I hugged and kissed each child in turn. We were all together again.
Up the mountain, arriving home, we hoped it would be standing. We were extremely fortunate — it was!!
photo credit M.C. Lloyd.
Our Alaskan homestead in winter.
Shelves on one end, separated by bricks, toppled. Plants, books, pottery from New Mexico, the electric clock radio, record player were in heaps on the floor amidst bricks. Nothing was broken.
One of the water containers in the kitchen had toppled over and the floor was covered with water. The tea canister had opened and spilled its contents into a [35 gallon] water container — resulting in [35 gallons] of cold tea.
A wall of shelves containing canned goods and spices had toppled and there was sticky maple syrup all over the floor. Dishes had fallen off and most were broken — but who cared? Not I.
Nothing of importance was damaged and if all our material possessions were gone, I couldn’t have cared less.
President Lyndon Johnson declared the entire state a major disaster.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spent nearly 110 million dollars leading the reconstruction work. Dad spent weeks working out of town after the earthquake. We kids got an extended spring break while our school was repaired.
The Port of Valdez on Prince William Sound was destroyed, and 32 people died during the docks' collapse and the destruction of the harbor. As a civil engineer working at the Corps, my Dad helped develop safer harbors in Whittier, Seward, and Kodak.
Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, was heavily damaged.
The front fell off the new multi-story J.C. Penney’s store; it looked like a giant dollhouse to me, the kind where you reach inside to move the furniture.
The earthquake and subsequent tsunamis caused 129 fatalities and an estimated $2.3 billion in property losses (in 2013 dollars).
Most of the 131 people killed were victims of the tsunamis caused by the earthquake; 16 people died as far away as Oregon and California. The fact that it was the Good Friday holiday and many businesses and schools were closed undoubtedly saved lives.
Congress funded two new observatories in the years after the earthquake and tsunami. The National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC) was established in 1967 in Palmer, Alaska, and operates 24 hours a day to monitor seismic activity and provide advance warning of potential tsunamis.
Fortunately, while Alaskans are used to frequent tremors, there haven’t been any deadly earthquakes since 1964.
If you’d like to learn more about the Great Alaskan Earthquake:
1964 Alaska Earthquake Damage Photos
Army Corps of Engineers helped rebuild Alaska
A short video (4 min) by Stephen Wessells, USGS relating how the largest quake in U.S. history had profound and lasting impacts on our lives.