I can’t even fathom how rough that had to have been - especially over a four minute duration.
Alaska is so much more built up now than in ‘64. The damage and loss of life would seem to be much larger if it happened today.
In addition to the magnitude of the shakes, I was always amazed by the duration.
The earthquake lasted approximately 4.5 minutes.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/events/alaska1964/
I’ve been in small earthquakes. They were all like a second or 3 at the max.
Wow! Very interesting!
I remember seeing a video taken from the deck of a ship in a harbor. IIRC it was Polish cargo ship..
Anyway a fissure opened next to the ship and the bay started emptying into it. Incredible.
I remember hearing this on my transistor radio as I was walking home from Good Friday mass. It was big news for the rest of the week and the footage of the bay disappearing that I saw later was amazing.
This headline just made me feel very old.