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Why the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake matters 50 years later

Michael E. West·Peter J. Haeussler·Natalia A. Ruppert·Jeffrey T. Freymueller·Alaska Seismic Hazards Safety Commission
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Abstract

Spring was returning to Alaska on Friday 27 March 1964. A two‐week cold snap had just ended, and people were getting ready for the Easter weekend. At 5:36 p.m., an earthquake initiated 12 km beneath Prince William Sound, near the eastern end of what is now recognized as the Alaska‐Aleutian subduction zone. No one was expecting this earthquake that would radically alter the coastal landscape, influence the direction of science, and indelibly mark the growth of a burgeoning state.

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Seismological Research LettersArticle
90° N90° S · 180° W ← longitude → 180° E
Source-reported bounding extent: 54.97067577720671° to 66.68954870433438° latitude; -160.04522953391194° to -133.64609437534986° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

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Michael E. West, Peter J. Haeussler, Natalia A. Ruppert, Jeffrey T. Freymueller, Alaska Seismic Hazards Safety Commission. 2014-03-07. Why the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake matters 50 years later. https://doi.org/10.1785/0220140020

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