The year is 1964 and what seemed to be like any other normal day in southern Alaska turned out to be anything but. March 24th marked a turning point that would affect many lives in Alaska as well as the lives of those along the coasts of Hawaii and Oregon. It impacted society physically and economically far beyond what anyone could have ever imagined. This day also shed light and created new practices as well as new methods of anticipating future earthquakes. The Earthquake of 1964 claimed the lives of approximately 131 people in Alaska as well as 16 deaths between Oregon and California. For an earthquake this size, the death toll was quite small, due to the low population, the time of day in which it occurred and the fact it
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It was found, later that at about 5:36 pm (AST) on the 28th the fault between the Pacific and North American plates had ruptured, thus causing the epicenter of the quake to be 12.4 miles north of Prince William Sound, 78 miles east of Anchorage, and 64 miles west of Valdez. The focus actually occurred at a depth of 15.5 miles. These shifts in the ocean floor created a tsunamis that measured an incredible height of 220 feet. Finally, a vertical displacement of up to 38 feet was created that affected approximately 100,000 miles of Alaska. Following this event, three scientists from the US Geological Survey were sent to Alaska, and strangely enough, during the investigation in Alaska, scientists found no obvious faults that could have caused this type of earthquake. After months of research and still no answer as to how this earthquake could have happened, a fresh pair of scientific eyes started a new investigation. During the course of his investigation, George Plafker confirmed the recent and still developing ideas of plate …show more content…
How far from the main point of impact for these earthquakes, has a potential to see the damage? During this tragic event, not only was there a record 9.2 earthquake, but a sizable tsunamis was actually paired with it. In the Port of Valdez the tsunami run-up was more than 100 feet. Not only did the tsunamis greatly affect the towns within the Gulf of Alaska, but locations in Canada, the west coast of the United States, Hawaii, and Japan also suffered severe damage. Plafker was able to determine through his research that these types of earthly activity have the potential to occur around every 600
It was found, later that at about 5:36 pm (AST) on the 28th the fault between the Pacific and North American plates had ruptured, thus causing the epicenter of the quake to be 12.4 miles north of Prince William Sound, 78 miles east of Anchorage, and 64 miles west of Valdez. The focus actually occurred at a depth of 15.5 miles. These shifts in the ocean floor created a tsunamis that measured an incredible height of 220 feet. Finally, a vertical displacement of up to 38 feet was created that affected approximately 100,000 miles of Alaska. Following this event, three scientists from the US Geological Survey were sent to Alaska, and strangely enough, during the investigation in Alaska, scientists found no obvious faults that could have caused this type of earthquake. After months of research and still no answer as to how this earthquake could have happened, a fresh pair of scientific eyes started a new investigation. During the course of his investigation, George Plafker confirmed the recent and still developing ideas of plate …show more content…
How far from the main point of impact for these earthquakes, has a potential to see the damage? During this tragic event, not only was there a record 9.2 earthquake, but a sizable tsunamis was actually paired with it. In the Port of Valdez the tsunami run-up was more than 100 feet. Not only did the tsunamis greatly affect the towns within the Gulf of Alaska, but locations in Canada, the west coast of the United States, Hawaii, and Japan also suffered severe damage. Plafker was able to determine through his research that these types of earthly activity have the potential to occur around every 600