1964: Great Alaska Earthquake levels Alaska Native villages
On March 27, the Great Alaska Earthquake, also known as the Good Friday Earthquake, destroys the Alaska Native villages of Chenega, Old Harbor, Afognak, and Kaguyak, and causes tidal waves that kill more than 100 people. The death toll from the quake—the most powerful in U.S. history—remained low only because of the comparatively small population in rural Alaska.
- Theme
- Land and Water
- Region
- Arctic, Subarctic
Rescue workers comb through a demolished home in the Turnagain area of Anchorage following the Alaska Earthquake
Courtesy Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks
A police squad car from Seward, Alaska lies amid a pile of wreckage following the tsunami generated by the 1964 earthquake
Courtesy Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks
“The Trip of the Clara J,” an account of the Good Friday earthquake in Alaska. Bureau of Indian Affairs Bullietin, Vol. II, No. 11-12, March-April 1964.
Courtesy National Archives and Records Administration, Anchorage
“The Trip of the Clara J,” an account of the Good Friday earthquake in Alaska. Bureau of Indian Affairs Bullietin, Vol. II, No. 11-12, March-April 1964.
Courtesy National Archives and Records Administration, Anchorage
“The Trip of the Clara J,” an account of the Good Friday earthquake in Alaska. Bureau of Indian Affairs Bullietin, Vol. II, No. 11-12, March-April 1964.
Courtesy National Archives and Records Administration, Anchorage
“The Trip of the Clara J,” an account of the Good Friday earthquake in Alaska. Bureau of Indian Affairs Bullietin, Vol. II, No. 11-12, March-April 1964.
Courtesy National Archives and Records Administration, Anchorage