North America’s largest recorded earthquake helped confirm plate tectonics
‘The Great Quake’ tells the story of the 1964 Alaska temblor
SHAKEN UP In 1964, the largest recorded earthquake in North American history shook Alaska to its core (damage in Anchorage, shown) and provided proof of tectonic plate movement.
USGS/Wikimedia Commons
The Great Quake
Henry Fountain
Crown, $28
In the early evening of March 27, 1964, a magnitude 9.2 earthquake roiled Alaska. For nearly five minutes, the ground shuddered violently in what was, and still is, the second biggest temblor in recorded history.
Across the southern part of the state, land cracked and split, lifting some areas nearly 12 meters — about as high as a telephone pole — in an instant. Deep, house-swallowing maws opened up. Near the coast, ground turned jellylike and slid into bays, dooming almost everyone standing on it. Local tsunamis swamped towns and villages.
Not many people lived in the newly formed state at the time.
