The Great Quake: How the Biggest Earthquake in North America Changed Our Understanding of the Planet

by Henry Fountain

  “They were unwilling, however, to venture along-side”: This and other quotations and descriptions of Cook’s time in Prince William Sound are from Captain James Cook, Captain Cook’s Third and Last Voyage to the Pacific Ocean (London: Fielding and Stockdale, 1785).

  They viewed the Russian interlopers as aliens: Birket-Smith, Chugach Eskimo, 10.

  One Russian captain wrote: P. A. Tikhmenev, A History of the Russian-American Company (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1978), 45.

  The Chugach themselves divided the sound: Birket-Smith, Chugach Eskimo, 20.

  “The whole existence of the Chugach”: For descriptions of the subsistence lifestyle, see Simeone and Miraglia, Ethnography of Chenega Bay; and Birket-Smith, Chugach Eskimo.

  “soaked in grease”: Birket-Smith, Chugach Eskimo, 21.

  “the kingdom of death”: Ieromonk Serafin, “The Kingdom of Death,” American Orthodox Messenger, 1907, cited in Simeone and Miraglia, Ethnography of Chenega Bay.

  Another lasting Russian influence: An overview of the Russian Orthodox Church in Alaska is in Claus M. Naske and Herman E. Slotnick, Alaska: A History, 3rd ed. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2014).

  “If you’re not good”: Interview with Kris Van Winkle.

  an especially joyful, even raucous, time: The holiday is discussed in detail in Poling, Chenega Diaries.

  He’d gotten the name: Ibid., 274.

  3. An Accident of Geography

  one that he would not soon forget: Abercrombie described his experiences in a number of reports, which are included in W. R. Abercrombie et al., Compilation of Narratives of Explorations in Alaska (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1900), and which form the basis for the description of conditions in Valdez during the gold rush.

  “A more motley-looking crowd”: Ibid., 758.

  “During my 22 years of service”: Ibid., 568.

  the Canadian government imposed rules: For an excellent overview of the gold rush, see Pierre Berton, The Klondike Fever: The Life and Death of the Last Great Gold Rush (1958; repr., New York: Basic Books, 2003).

  Ships could beach themselves: This is described in, among other sources, Abercrombie et al., Compilation of Narratives.

  A glacier such as the one: David Evans and Douglas Benn, A Practical Guide to the Study of Glacial Sediments (London: Arnold, 2004).

  This was recognized as a problem: Abercrombie et al., Compilation of Narratives, 808.

  Valdez might remain a mining hub: It was Cordova, however, that ultimately benefited from the copper ore in the Wrangells. The story is told in Janson, Lone E., The Copper Spike (Anchorage: Alaska Northwest Publishing, 1995).

  Among the thousands of adventurers: The story of Hazelet and Cheever, including the account of eating a marmot, is told by Hazelet in John H. Clark, ed., Hazelet’s Journal (Louisville, KY: Old Stone Press, 2012).

  Some of the operations were fabulously successful: George Sundborg, Valdez Industrial Report (Juneau: Alaska Development Board, 1955).

  One of Valdez’s selling points: Ibid.

  High school students often brought their rifles: Interviews with Dan Kendall and Gary Minish.

  billing itself as the “Switzerland of Alaska”: The slogan was found on everything from restaurant place mats to tourism brochures to a wooden sign in the center of town. Examples can be found in the collection of the Valdez Museum and Historical Archive, www.valdezmuseum.org.

  A local Democrat, complaining once: Interview with Gloria Day.

  4. Clam Broth and Beer

  known to everyone who lived there as the H: The description of life at the orphanage is from interviews with George Plafker and from Ira A. Greenberg, ed., The Hebrew National Orphan Home: Memories of Orphanage Life (Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey, 2001).

  a gentlemanly New Jerseyan: George T. Faust, “Memorial of Alfred Cary Hawkins,” American Mineralogist 54 (1969): 619–25.

  the corps had been kept busy: For a history of the corps’ Sacramento District, see Willie R. Collins et al., Sacramento District History (1929–2004) (Sacramento, CA: US Army Corps of Engineers, 2005).

  The USGS was established in 1879: For an overview of the history of the Survey, see Mary C. Rabbitt, The United States Geological Survey: 1879–1989 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1989).

  5. The Floating World

  The development of the theory of plate tectonics is exceptionally well told, by the scientists involved, in Naomi Oreskes, ed., Plate Tectonics: An Insider’s History of the Modern Theory of the Earth (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2001).

  more than 130 have erupted: Up-to-the-minute information about Alaska’s volcanoes can be found at www.avo.alaska.edu.

  expedition to explore the devastation: Robert Fiske Griggs, The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes (Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 1922).

  when he was a distinguished scientist: Hans Cloos, Conversation with the Earth (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1953).

  The first spark of the idea: The most recent, most complete, and perhaps best biography of Alfred Wegener is Mott T. Greene, Alfred Wegener: Science, Exploration and the Theory of Continental Drift (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015).

  “loosened the continents from the terrestrial core”: Cloos, Conversation with the Earth, 396.

  The gist of his theory: Alfred Wegener, The Origin of Continents and Oceans (1966; repr., New York: Dover Publications, 2011).

  This sentiment was particularly felt: For a fuller account of the New York meeting, see Homer E. LeGrand, Drifting Continents and Shifting Theories (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989).

  Harry Hess laid the groundwork: Hess’s life is concisely described in Harold L. James, Harry Hammond Hess, 1906–1969 (Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences, 1973).

  another scientist had speculated: K.C. Dunham, “Arthur Holmes: 1890–1965,” Biographical Memoirs of the Fellows of the Royal Society 12 (1966): 290–310.

  he estimated that the planet was 1.6 billion years old: Arthur Holmes, The Age of the Earth (London: Harper, 1913). Holmes was off by about three billion years.

  Holmes suggested in a paper: Arthur Holmes, “Radioactivity and Earth Movements,” Transactions of the Geological Society of Glasgow 18 (1929): 559–606.

  he described his idea as speculative: Arthur Holmes, Principles of Physical Geology (London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1944).

  he proposed in 1959: Harry Hess, “Nature of the Great Oceanic Ridges,” International Ocean Congress preprints, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, DC, 1959, 33–34.

  as Hess himself acknowledged: Harry Hess, “A History of Ocean Basins,” in Petrologic Studies: A Volume to Honor A. F. Buddington (New York: Geological Society of America, 1962), 599–620.

  6. Spiking Out

  You examine the rock formation: This and other descriptions of geology fieldwork are from interviews with George Plafker and from Dougal Dixon and Raymond L. Bernor, eds., The Practical Geologist (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992).

  He’d joined the Alaska branch in 1942: “Memorial: Don John Miller,” Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists 46, no. 8 (August 1962): 1534–37.

  Miller and MacColl had been working: An account of the accident is in the San Mateo Times and Daily News Leader (CA), August 8, 1961.

  7. Before the Storm

  the state had decided to allow: The plan to cull wolves was eventually dropped. Timothy Egan, “Facing Boycott, Alaska Drops Plan to Kill Wolves,” New York Times, December 23, 1992.

  “We can’t just let nature run wild”: Malcom B. Roberts, ed., The Wit and Wisdom of Wally Hickel (Anchorage: Searchers Press, 1994).

  The valley had seen its own development: For a history of the Matanuska Colony, see Helen Hegener, The 1935 Matanuska Colony Project: The Remarkable History of a New Deal Experiment in Alaska (Wasilla, AK: Northern Light Media, 2014).

  no fewer than thirty-three saloons: Harry Ritter, Alaska’s Hi
story: The People, Land and Events of the North Country (Anchorage: Alaska Northwest Books, 2015).

  Alaska’s people were “enterprising, vigorous, warmhearted, modern”: Ernest Gruening, “Alaska Proudly Joins the Union,” National Geographic, July 1959.

  Down in the village: The description of events in Chenega on the day of the earthquake is derived from various accounts, including interviews with Kris Van Winkle and Avis Kompkoff; John Smelcer, The Day That Cries Forever (Anchorage: Todd Communications, 2006); recollections of elders in Donald R. Poling, comp., Chenega Diaries: Stories and Voices of Our Past (n.p.: Chenega Corporation, 2011); unpublished survivor interviews by Alaska Department of Fish and Game employees; and newspaper articles.

  he wandered over to the Smokehouse: Cordova Times, March 29, 1975.

  Kenny had wanted to chase and throw stones: Smelcer, Day That Cries Forever.

  The two had gone out in a skiff: Interview with Avis Kompkoff.

  the people of Valdez were suckers: Descriptions of Valdez at the time of the earthquake are based on interviews with Tom and Gloria McAlister, Gary Minish, Dan Kendall, Gloria Day and Dorothy Moore; Karen LaChance, Valdez: A Brief Oral History (Valdez, AK: Prince William Sound Community College, 1995); and newspaper articles.

  For a large ship, about a dozen men were needed: George Sundborg, Valdez Industrial Report (Juneau: Alaska Development Board, 1955).

  that steel had failed spectacularly: For a history of the Liberty ship program, see Peter Elphick, Liberty: The Ships That Won the War (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2006). An account of the near-sinking of the Chief Washakie appears in Time magazine, March 20, 1944.

  packed themselves into the family car: Interview with Gary Minish.

  She and Walter had spent much of Thursday: Interview with Gloria Day.

  8. Faults

  Howard Ulrich maneuvered: The near-sinking of the Edrie is told in the Daily Sitka Sentinel, February 25, 1988, and July 9, 1996.

  The next day, Don Miller: Don J. Miller, Giant Waves in Lituya Bay, Alaska, USGS Professional Paper 354-C (Washington, DC: US Geological Survey, 1960).

  In ancient times, the shaking of the earth: A concise history of the rise of seismology is found in Benjamin F. Howell Jr., An Introduction to Seismological Research: History and Development (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990).

  Gilbert was born in upstate New York: William M. Davis, Grove K. Gilbert, 1843–1918 (Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences, 1922).

  a lesser-known report: Grove K. Gilbert, “A Theory of Earthquakes of the Great Basin, with a Practical Application,” Journal of American Science, 3rd ser., 27, no. 57 (January 1884): 49–53.

  seismometers had been around in one form or another: Howell, Introduction to Seismological Research, 58–72.

  The shocks also shattered Muir Glacier: Ralph S. Tarr and Lawrence Martin, The Earthquakes at Yakutat Bay, Alaska, in September 1899 (Washington, DC: US Geological Survey, 1912).

  9. Shaken

  Sources of personal accounts of the earthquake include Genie Chance, Chronology of Physical Events of the Alaskan Earthquake (n.p.: National Science Foundation, 1966); various USGS professional papers on the quake; John Smelcer, The Day That Cries Forever (Anchorage: Todd Communications, 2006); Karen LaChance, Valdez: A Brief Oral History (Valdez, AK: Prince William Sound Community College, 1995); George Plafker’s unpublished field notebooks; and interviews with survivors.

  an episode of the sci-fi marionette series: Many personal accounts of the earthquake by children in Anchorage mention watching this show.

  At her medical office south of downtown: Chance, Chronology of Physical Events, 101. This is the source of the accounts of Dean Smith, Tobias Shugak and others as well.

  convinced Russian battleships were shelling: From Plafker’s unpublished field notebooks.

  his car wasn’t the problem: William P. E. Graves, “Earthquake!,” National Geographic, July 1964.

  The mayor of Anchorage, George Sharrock: Unpublished interview with Mayor George Sharrock by Glenn Bordwell, Anchorage, in University of Alaska–Fairbanks’ Alaska and Polar Regions Collections.

  the postmaster reported afterward: Chance, Chronology of Physical Events, 94.

  She started skiing toward her colleagues: There are several accounts of what happened at the lake, including ibid., 95.

  Blanche Clark had just left: There are many accounts of Clark’s experience outside the J. C. Penney store, including ibid., 133.

  Carol Tucker was on the third floor: Graves, “Earthquake!”

  Atwood had just gotten home: Atwood wrote about his ordeal in his newspaper, the Anchorage Daily Times, on March 29. Chance, Chronology of Physical Events, has another account based on an interview.

  She wasn’t unfamiliar with earthquakes, either: Interview with Avis Kompkoff.

  Nick Kompkoff’s first thought: Cordova Times, March 29, 1975.

  Timmy Selanoff watched in amazement: Smelcer, Day That Cries Forever, 54.

  Recollections of survivors in the days that followed: Interviews conducted by Plafker, in his unpublished field notebooks.

  He remembered grabbing on to a twig: Smelcer, Day That Cries Forever, 55.

  The screeching was the worst thing: Interview with Gloria Day.

  He made it up to the bridge: There are several accounts of what happened to the Chena, by Captain Stewart and others, in National Research Council, The Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964, vol. 6, Engineering (Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences, 1973); Henry W. Coulter and Ralph R. Migliaccio, Effects of the Earthquake of March 27, 1964, at Valdez, Alaska, USGS Professional Paper 542-C (Washington, DC: US Geological Survey, 1966); “The Bouncing Chena,” Alaska Construction, May–June 1965.

  a couple of shutterbugs: Footage that these men shot can be seen in a short video, 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, Valdez (University of Alaska–Fairbanks, Bartlett Collection, AAF-1438). An analysis of frames from the films is in National Research Council, The Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964, vol. 5, Oceanography and Coastal Engineering (Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences, 1972).

  The people on the dock who had been working: The accounts of Dorney and others are in the Seattle Daily Times, April 4, 1964.

  His son was standing: Described in Coulter and Migliaccio, Effects of the Earthquake.

  Gilson and his customers experienced this: LaChance, Valdez.

  10. Stunned

  one quick calculation: The most extreme estimate, by the chief of seismology at the US Coast and Geodetic Survey, was that the quake released ten million times more energy than the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. It was reported in many newspapers around the country.

  a barge loaded with lumber: Interview with George Plafker.

  It eventually spread out: Austin Post, Effects of the March 1964 Alaska Earthquake on Glaciers, USGS Professional Paper 544-D (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1967).

  Estimates of the duration: Genie Chance, Chronology of Physical Events of the Alaskan Earthquake (n.p.: National Science Foundation, 1966).

  a characteristic of the missiles: For a short history of Nike missiles in Alaska, see Kristy Hollinger, Nike Hercules Operations in Alaska: 1959–1979 (Fort Richardson, AK: US Army Alaska, 2004), www.a-2-562.org/.

  left a trail of destruction: For details on the waves that hit the Pacific Northwest, see National Research Council, The Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964, vol. 5, Oceanography and Coastal Engineering (Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences, 1972).

  The couple grabbed the children: An Associated Press account of the events on the beach was published widely, including in the Fairbanks Daily News–Miner, April 3, 1964.

  a small port in timber country: The destruction in Crescent City is described in detail in Wallace H. Griffin, Crescent City’s Dark Disaster (Crescent City, OR: Crescent City Press, 1984).

  Ashen received a call: Account from a 1964 KPIX-TV (San Francisco) documentary about the earthquake, Chenega Is G
one. Ashen’s work in Chenega is also described in Jack Foisie, “Rebirth of a Village,” San Francisco Chronicle, ca. May 30, 1964.

  On Knight Island they found the second floor: Interview with Avis Kompkoff.

  never had a great affinity: William E. Simeone and Rita Miraglia, An Ethnography of Chenega Bay and Tatitlek, Alaska (Anchorage: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, 2000).

  Ashen told a newspaper reporter later: San Francisco Chronicle, June 3, 1964.

  The US Army showed up: Sources for the description of Valdez after the earthquake include National Research Council, The Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964, vol. 7, Human Ecology (Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences, 1970); Karen LaChance, Valdez: A Brief Oral History (Valdez, AK: Prince William Sound Community College, 1995); and survivor interviews.

  a staff member played the piano: National Research Council, Great Alaska Earthquake, 7:346.

  They didn’t have fishing in mind: One account of the Ferriers’ experience can be found in Chance, Chronology of Physical Events.

  the first plane ride of his life: Interview with Gary Minish.

  Owen Meals had a suggestion: LaChance, Valdez.

  11. The Barnacle Line

  The northern acorn barnacle: D. T. Anderson, Barnacles: Structure, Function, Development and Evolution (New York: Springer, 1993).

  he became obsessed with barnacles: Rebecca Stott, Darwin and the Barnacle: The Story of One Tiny Creature and History’s Most Spectacular Scientific Breakthrough (New York: W. W. Norton, 2004).

  the three had gone their separate ways: George Plafker, from his unpublished field notebooks.

  one look at the shoreline: Details of this fieldwork are from interviews with George Plafker.