The fault responsible was the Aleutian Megathrust, a reverse fault caused by a compressional force. [29], In the longer term, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers led the effort to rebuild roads, clear debris, and establish new townsites for communities that had been completely destroyed, at a cost of $110 million. Thousands of aftershocks were recorded in the months following the mainshock. Major structural damage occurred in many of the major cities in Alaska. [12][13], The quake was a reported XI on the modified Mercalli Intensity scale "indicating major structural damage, and ground fissures and failures". [28] A military airlift immediately began shipping relief supplies to Alaska, eventually delivering 2,570,000 pounds (1,170,000 kg) of food and other supplies. The epicenter was located at Lat. The crust of southern Alaska is compressed and warped due to plate movement after the plates locked. ©Copyright The earthquake epicenter was at the mouth of College Fiord in Prince William Sound. It released at least twice as much energy as the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and was felt on land over an area of almost 502,000 square miles (1,300,000 square km). The death toll was extrememly small for a quake of this magnitude due to low population density, the time of day and the fact that it was a holiday, and the type of material used to construct many buildings (wood). Southeast of Anchorage, areas around the head of Turnagain Arm near Girdwood and Portage dropped as much as 8 feet (2.4 m), requiring reconstruction and fill to raise the Seward Highway above the new high tide mark. Close-up of Government Hill elementary school, which was destroyed by the Government Hill landslide. The damage totalled 300-400 million dollars (1964 dollars). Committee on the Alaska Earthquake. "Getting Ready to Rumble", Richard Conniff. [9], Most damage occurred in Anchorage, 75 mi (120 km) northwest of the epicenter. Epicenter 1964 Earthquake. reserved. "Getting Ready to Rumble", Richard Conniff. Basically the whole earth vibrated (rang) like a church bell during this time. Post-quake tsunamis severely affected Whittier, Seward, Kodiak, and other Alaskan communities, as well as people and property in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California. HMC-0051. There was a tectonic tsunami produced in addition to about 20 smaller and local tsunamis. Geology. [26] The team produced a report on May 8, 1964, just a little more than a month after the earthquake. Evidence of motion directly related to the earthquake was also reported from Florida and Texas. https://archives.consortiumlibrary.org/collections/specialcollections/hmc-0051/. Nine more struck over the next three weeks. [22] Effects of the earthquake were even noted as far east as Freeport, Texas, where tide gauges recorded waves similar to seismic surface waves. The towns of Hot Springs Cove, Zeballos, and Amai also saw damage. [17] The damage in British Columbia was estimated at CA$10 million ($81 million in 2018 Canadian dollars or $76 million in 2019 US dollars). These smaller tsunamis were produced by submarine and subaerial landslides and were responsible for the majority of the tsunami damage. The epicenter was located at Lat. Most coastal towns in the Prince William Sound, Kenai Peninsula, and Kodiak Island areas, especially the major ports of Seward, Whittier and Kodiak were heavily damaged by a combination of seismic activity, subsidence, post-quake tsunamis and/or earthquake-caused fires. construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center, "M9.2 - The Great Alaska Earthquake and Tsunami of March 27, 1964", US Geological Survey report on the earthquake, Historic Earthquakes: Prince William Sound, Alaska, The Great Alaskan Earthquake & Tsunamis of 1964, "Tsunami generated by Good Friday quake devastated Oregon Coast 50 years ago Thursday", "The day in 1964 when a tsunami ravaged Crescent City", "Remembering the Deadly 75-Foot Tidal Wave that Leveled Crescent City in 1964", ushistory.com: Great Alaskan Quake of 1964, "Consumer Price Index, annual average, not seasonally adjusted", "Consumer Price Index by product group, monthly, percentage change, not seasonally adjusted, Canada, provinces, Whitehorse, Yellowknife and Iqaluit", "USGS Release: 40th Anniversary of "Good Friday" Earthquake Offers New Opportunities for Public and Building Safety Partnerships (3/26/2004)", National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, "Helping Hand" Military response to Good Friday earthquake, Great Alaskan Earthquake and Tsunami: Alaska, March 1964, The Face of Disaster: The Great Alaska Earthquake – US Office of Civil Defense, 1964 Good Friday Great Alaskan Earthquake, The Effects of the March 28, 1964 Alaska Tsunami in British Columbia, Canada, Anchorage, AK Good Friday Earthquake, Mar 1964, Fifty Years Since the Great Alaska Earthquake: The Role of First Responders in Catastrophic Disaster Planning, Tsunami Forecast Model Animation: Alaska 1964, Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1964_Alaska_earthquake&oldid=974610812, 1964 natural disasters in the United States, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2010, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. On March 27, 1964, a megathrust earthquake struck Alaska, about 15 miles below Prince William Sound, halfway between Anchorage and Valdez. As I did some research on the 1964 Alaska earthquake, these are some of the earthquake facts I dug up: The earthquake began at 5:36 p.m. local time, on March 27, 1964. Major. [4] Tsunamis also caused damage in Hawaii and Japan. One house on W. 10th Avenue suffered peripheral damage, but only one block away the recently completed (and still unoccupied) Four Seasons Building on Ninth Avenue collapsed completely, with the concrete elevator shafts sticking up out of the rubble like a seesaw. The 1964 Alaska earthquake, also known as the Great Alaska earthquake, began at 5:36 P.M. AST on Friday, March 27, 1964. The epicenter is the star, located at Prince William Sound. Most coastal towns in the Prince William Sound, Kenai Peninsula, and Kodiak Island areas, especially the major ports of Seward, Whittier and Kodiak were heavily damaged by a combination of seismic activity, subsidence, post-quake tsunamis and/or earthquake-caused fires. In all, thousands of aftershocks occurred in the months following the quake, and smaller aftershocks continued to strike the region for more than a year. Check out Myrna Martin's award winning textbooks, e-books, videos and rock sets. The land around the town of Portage subsided by as much as 3 to 9 meters. [29] The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center was formed as a direct response to the disaster. The earthquake caused the Cold-War era ballistic missile detection radar of Clear Air Force Station to go offline for six minutes, the only unscheduled interruption in its operational history. Most other areas of the city were only moderately damaged. Minor damage to boats occurred as far south as Los Angeles. Award winning Earth Science materials at our bookstore. The earthquake caused the Cold-War era ballistic missile detection radar of Clear Air Force Station to go offline for six minutes, the only unscheduled interruption in its operational history. Saucier, Heather (April 2014). [28] A military airlift immediately began shipping relief supplies to Alaska, eventually delivering 2,570,000 pounds (1,170,000 kg) of food and other supplies. This was the largest earthquake in United States' history and currently as of 2017[update] ranks as 3rd largest globally. Tsunami waves swept across the Pacific Ocean. [18][19][20], Twelve people were killed by the tsunami in or near Crescent City, California, while four children were killed on the Oregon coast at Beverly Beach State Park. Vertical displacement of up to 38 feet (11.5 m) occurred, affecting an area of 100,000 square miles (260,000 km2) within Alaska. Post-quake tsunamis severely affected Whittier, Seward, Kodiak, and other Alaskan communities, as well as people and property in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California. The 60-foot (18 m) concrete control tower at Anchorage International Airport was not engineered to withstand earthquake activity and collapsed, killing William George Taylor, the Federal Aviation Agency air traffic controller on duty in the tower cab at the time the earthquake began.[16]. Sozen, Mete A. and N. Norby Nielsen, 1973: Canadian inflation numbers based on Statistics Canada tables 18-10-0005-01 (formerly CANSIM 326-0021), Friedel, Megan K. (2010).