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My mom was a Red Cross nurse who worked in the relief effort after the 1964 Good Friday earthquake and tsunami that devastated Anchorage and areas as far south
by Stratoscope 3y ago
My mom was a Red Cross nurse who worked in the relief effort after the 1964 Good Friday earthquake and tsunami that devastated Anchorage and areas as far south as Crescent City, California.
It was magnitude 9.2, the second largest in recorded history.
The photos she brought back were quite something. I may still have them somewhere, but in the meantime there are plenty online. LIFE.com has a remarkable collection:
https://www.life.com/history/the-great-alaska-earthquake-of-1964-rare-photos-from-an-epic-disaster/ https://www.life.com/history/the-great-alaska-earthquake-of-...
https://ready.alaska.gov/_64Quake/History https://ready.alaska.gov/_64Quake/History
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/events/alaska1964/ https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/events/alaska1964/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Alaska_earthquake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Alaska_earthquake
From Wikipedia:
> As a result of the earthquake, 131 people are believed to have died: Nine died as a result of the earthquake itself and another 122 died from the subsequent tsunamis all over the world. Five died from the tsunami in Oregon, and 12 died from the tsunami in Crescent City, California.
- shostack 3y agoThose numbers, while sad, are surprisingly low compared to other causes of death.
- Retric 3y agoAnchorage was 78 miles from the earthquake and still saw mass building collapses. The death toll was low due to the low population in the area. 128,026 in 1970 presumably less in 1964.
- interloxia 3y agoAbout 290,000 in 2022. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/anchoragemunicipalityalaska https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/anchoragemunici...
- seanmcdirmid 3y agoMy mom was a schoolgirl in anchorage during the earthquake. We have a picture of my grandma and her trailer being 20 feet down from the rest of the ground. Haven’t digitized it yet.