The Alaskan Earthquake
On Good Friday, in 1964, there was an earthquake in Southcentral Alaska that changed everything. It was originally designated as an 8.4 on the Richter Scale, and later upgraded to a 9.2. The quake lasted for 5 minutes and was so forceful that people were thrown to the ground and unable to stand for the duration. A city block split in two with half of it dropping 10 - 20 feet. A neighborhoods (Turnagain-by-the-Sea) bounced, shifted and slid 500 yards off of the ending bluff.
Tsunami's destroyed towns including Valdez (relocated), the village of Chenega (relocated), Girdwood (main townsite was relocated, homes now stand on the old townsite as well), Whittier (rebuilt) and Seward (rebuilt). Some smaller communities never rebuilt such as Sunrise which was almost a ghost town by then anyway and Portage.
There are several places that you can visit to get an idea of the force of the Earthquake. Alaska Experience Theatre on 4th Avenue recreates the quake in their theatre and has stunning photo's of the damage on 4th Avenue. Earthquake Park off of the West end of Northern Lights was where "Turnagain-by-the Sea" once stood. The one flat topography is now punctuated by the rough land created during the earthquake. There is a monument on the path for you to visit (keep an eye out for moose). The "earthquake proof" DOT building at the airport is interesting (lots of white posts surround the building, supporting it in bedrock). And if you venture out on the Seward highway, the stands of dead trees starting in the Girdwood area, show where the land dropped about 6 - 8 feet and then the tsunami came in swamping those trees roots with salt water. It still stands as a ghost forest.
I am not sitting here worrying about the next earthquake... too much. We get about 1000 small earthquakes a year, mostly too small to be felt. Those little earthquake supposedly release the pressure a little at a time, not building up to "the big one." However, we do live in an earthquake prone area, so it never hurts to be prepared.
Wednesday night at 7 PM there is a free planning session at UAA geared toward professionals on how we can be prepared for the next earthquake. call 786-1288 or go to www.uaa.alaska.edu for more information.
A visit to Earthquake park,
