Mar. 27, 1964 | Alaskan Earthquake
Mar. 27, 1964 - A destructive, death-dealing earthquake struck the city of Anchorage and several smaller Alaskan towns today. In Juneau, the Alaskan capital, the office of Governor William Egan said at least 50 persons died in Anchorage.
Civil defense officials in Anchorage reported that a 10-block area in the downtown section was “extensively damaged.” Many buildings were reported flattened by the shock, which was so strong it knocked detection devices off the seismograph at Cal Tech, Pasadena, Calif.
Instruments at the University of California at Berkeley recorded the shock at 8.6 on the Richter scale of magnitude. Heavy damage from the quake was reported in Seward, Valdez, and Homer. All are situated along the rugged Alaskan coast.
The Defense Department in Washington announced that U.S. Air Force personnel had been removed from Kodiak Island because of a tidal wave generated by the earthquake. Two 15-foot tidal waves swept through the streets of Kodiak, a fishing community of 3,500.
The town of Valdez, a fishing community about 150 miles east of Anchorage, was also struck by a tidal wave, and damage was reported heavy. Twenty-six persons at Valdez were unaccounted for, and most were thought to have been on a waterfront dock which collapsed when the wave struck.
In Hawaii, a tidal wave alert was sounded, and civil defense officials and police began the evacuation of approximately 150,000 persons residing along the dangerous beach and lowland areas. Most of Waikiki Beach was evacuated, and planes flew over remote villages warning residents by loudspeakers to go to high ground.
Regular communications were out from Alaska, and the specific extent of damage remains unclear. However, one civil defense report said that large portions of Seward were in flames.
Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s
-
6:56
MaryGreeley
4 months agoRare Earthquake M 4.0 East of Cape Canaveral, Florida
108 -
6:56
MaryGreeley
2 months agoEarthquake East Of St. Louis Felt Through Out Area M 2.8
2135 -
0:49
EarthChangingExtremities
2 months agoMagnitude 5.7 Earthquake Depth 10 km Strikes Off Coast of Oregon on 27th March 2024
24 -
17:12
MaryGreeley
3 months agoSmall Earthquake Near Elgin, South Carolina, State Don't Prepare Citizens
199 -
12:08
Creative Society
2 months agoWeekly Report on Natural Disasters #5. Earthquake in Taiwan, Flood in Saudi Arabia, Storms in the US
1.85K3 -
7:14
MaryGreeley
1 month agoStrong Shaking From M5.0 Earthquake, Felt In Mount Vernon, Washington
2373 -
1:04
All the News Fit to Pick
2 months agoCameras capture the moment earthquake shook New Jersey
431 -
5:30
MaryGreeley
3 months agoAnother Earthquake Near Cascade Idaho, Smith Ferry, M 3.8, Felt Report
1672 -
7:28
ImagineThatMedia
3 months agoThe GREAT San Francisco Earthquake of 1906
75 -
0:35
EarthChangingExtremities
2 months agoMagnitude 5.6 Earthquake Depth 13 km Strikes Gulf of California on 18th April 2024
15