This powerful earthquake produced liquification in the region. Ground fissures and failures caused major structural damage in several communities, much damage to property and several landslides. Anchorage sustained great destruction or damage to many houses, buildings, and infrastructure. Two hundred miles southwest, some areas near Kodiak were permanently raised by 30 feet. East of Anchorage, areas around the head of Turnagain Arm near Portage dropped 8 feet. requiring reconstruction and fill to raise the Seward Highway above the new high tidemark. In Prince William Sound, a 27-foot tsunami destroyed the village of Chenega. Post-quake tsunamis severely affected Valdez, Whittier, Seward, Kodiak, and other Alaskan Communities, as well as people and property in British Columbia, Oregon, and California. Tsunamis also caused damage in Hawaii and Japan.
The northwestward motion of the Pacific plate at about 5 to 7 cm per year causes the crust of southern Alaska to be compressed and warped, with some areas along the coast being depressed and other areas inland being uplifted. After periods of tens to hundreds of years, this compression is relieved by the sudden southeastward motion of portions of coastal Alaska as they move back over the subducting Pacific plate. The Alaska Earthquake was a subduction zone (the plates moved together) earthquake, caused by an oceanic plate sinking under a continental plate.
As a result of the 1964 quake, the Latouche Island area moved about 18 meters to the southeast. Also, the patterns of uplift and subsidence which had been slowly developing before the earthquake were suddenly reversed, with areas around Montague Island being uplifted 4-9 meters and areas around Portage down-dropped as much as 3 meters. The line separating the uplift and subsidence zones extended from near the epicenter in Prince William Sound to the SE coast of Kodiak Island. This vertical deformation affected and area of approximately 250,000 km2. The end results was the movement of the Pacific plate under the North American plate by about 9 meters on average.
In the past the easiest ways to prevent personal earthquake damage without earthquake warning is to have a fire extinguisher on hand in case a fire starts during an earthquake. If you live in an earthquake prone area it is best to have most of your furniture latched to the floor and most things in places where they can fall off shelves and fly around. Another thing to do is to anchor fuel tanks and wood stoves down in case an earthquake occurs while running these, which could in fact start a fire also. Building shorter buildings with underground basements is also very ideal when living in an area where earthquakes will most likely occur. Doing these things has prevented much damage for many people. As long as people follow simple procedures like getting away from buildings as soon as possible during an earthquake, they will know how to handle earthquakes in the future and it will prevent many deaths and much damage can also be prevented when keeping in mind the natural disaster of your area. When an earthquake warning is given you should take advantage of it, by preparing for what is about to occur.
People who live in earthquake prone areas usually have heavy things strapped down in their houses and can have simple things on hand in case of an earthquake warning. These items include: a flashlight, water, a portable radio, and some canned goods. As long as you keep things on hand in case of emergency, it really isn't any different living in an earthquake area than any other place!
The amount of aftershocks(white circles) after the 1964 Alaskan Earthquake
The Magnitude Depth of the 1964 Earthquake throughout Alaska
