DAWN.COM Logo

The Great Alaskan Earthquake of 1964

AP Published March 26, 2014
In this March 1964 photo released by the U.S. Geological Survey, tsunami damage is shown along the waterfront in Kodiak, Alaska.
In this March 1964 photo released by the U.S. Geological Survey, tsunami damage is shown along the waterfront in Kodiak, Alaska.
In this March 30, 1964 file photo, Anchorage small business owners were going full tilt clearing salvagable items and equipment from their earthquake-ravaged stores on shattered Fourth Avenue in Alaska, in the aftermath of an earthquake.
In this March 30, 1964 file photo, Anchorage small business owners were going full tilt clearing salvagable items and equipment from their earthquake-ravaged stores on shattered Fourth Avenue in Alaska, in the aftermath of an earthquake.
In this March 27, 1964 photo released by the U.S. Geological Survey, a man looks over fissures following an earthquake in the Seward Highway at the head of Turnagain Arm near Anchorage, Alaska.
In this March 27, 1964 photo released by the U.S. Geological Survey, a man looks over fissures following an earthquake in the Seward Highway at the head of Turnagain Arm near Anchorage, Alaska.
In this March 1964 photo released by the U.S. Geological Survey, the Government Hill Elementary School is shown destroyed by a landslide following an earthquake in Anchorage, Alaska.
In this March 1964 photo released by the U.S. Geological Survey, the Government Hill Elementary School is shown destroyed by a landslide following an earthquake in Anchorage, Alaska.
In this March 29, 1964 file photo, a soldier crosses Fourth Avenue, the main street in Anchorage, Alaska, a city under martial law following the devastation visited upon it by an earthquake.
In this March 29, 1964 file photo, a soldier crosses Fourth Avenue, the main street in Anchorage, Alaska, a city under martial law following the devastation visited upon it by an earthquake.
In this March 1964 photo released by the U.S. Geological Survey, Anchorage small business owners clear salvagable items and equipment from their earthquake-ravaged stores on shattered Fourth Avenue in Alaska in the aftermath of an earthquake.
In this March 1964 photo released by the U.S. Geological Survey, Anchorage small business owners clear salvagable items and equipment from their earthquake-ravaged stores on shattered Fourth Avenue in Alaska in the aftermath of an earthquake.
In this March 28, 1964 file photo, with the city under martial law, soldiers patrol a downtown street in Anchorage, Alaska. In bacground is the wreckage of the five-story Penney store at Fifth Avenue and D Street.
In this March 28, 1964 file photo, with the city under martial law, soldiers patrol a downtown street in Anchorage, Alaska. In bacground is the wreckage of the five-story Penney store at Fifth Avenue and D Street.
In this March 29, 1964 file photo, a photographer looks over wreckage as smoke rises in the background from burning oil storage tanks at Valdez, Alaska, March 29, 1964. The city was hit hard by the earthquake that demolished some of Alaska's most picturesque and largest cities.
In this March 29, 1964 file photo, a photographer looks over wreckage as smoke rises in the background from burning oil storage tanks at Valdez, Alaska, March 29, 1964. The city was hit hard by the earthquake that demolished some of Alaska's most picturesque and largest cities.

North America's largest earthquake rattled Alaska 50 years ago, on March 27, 1964, killing 15 people and creating a tsunami that killed 124 more from Alaska to California. The magnitude 9.2 quake hit at 5:30 p.m on Good Friday, turning soil beneath parts of Anchorage into jelly and collapsing buildings that were not engineered to withstand the force of colliding continental plates. This earthquake remains the second largest earthquake ever recorded in the world. after the magnitude 9.5 earthquake in Chile in 1960. The duration of the rupture lasted approximately 4 minutes.

Read more

On DawnNews
Dawn News English

Dear visitor, the comments section is undergoing an overhaul and will return soon.

Latest Stories

dawn images site

Most Popular

01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09

Must Read

Opinion

The Dar story continues

The Dar story continues

Zahid Hussain
One wonders what the rationale was for the foreign minister — a highly demanding, full-time job — being assigned various other political responsibilities.

Editorial

Wheat protests
Updated 01 May, 2024

Wheat protests

The government should withdraw from the wheat trade gradually, replacing the existing market support mechanism with an effective new one over the next several years.
Polio drive
01 May, 2024

Polio drive

THE year’s fourth polio drive has kicked off across Pakistan, with the aim to immunise more than 24m children ...
Workers’ struggle
Updated 01 May, 2024

Workers’ struggle

Yet the struggle to secure a living wage — and decent working conditions — for the toiling masses must continue.
All this talk
Updated 30 Apr, 2024

All this talk

The other parties are equally legitimate stakeholders in the country’s political future, and it must give them due consideration.
Monetary policy
30 Apr, 2024

Monetary policy

ALIGNING its decision with the trend in developed economies, the State Bank has acted wisely by holding its key...
Meaningless appointment
30 Apr, 2024

Meaningless appointment

THE PML-N’s policy of ‘family first’ has once again triggered criticism. The party’s latest move in this...