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Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. The rails in this approach to a railroad bridge near the head of Turnagain Arm were torn from their ties and buckled laterally by streamward movement of the riverbanks during the earthquake. The bridge was also compressed and developed a hump from vertical buckling. U.S. Geological Survey photo

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. Part of the Turnagain Heights landslide in Anchorage shortly after the earthquake. Photo by W.R. Hansen, Frontispiece, U.S. Geological Survey

A photographer looks over wreckage as smoke rises in the background from burning oil storage tanks at Valdez, Alaska, March 29, 1964. The city was hit hard by the earthquake that demolished some of Alaska's most picturesque and largest cities. (AP Photo) ( Alaska Earthquake 1964 )

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. Fissures in Seward Highway near The Alaska Railroad station at Portage, at the head of Turnagain Arm. Many bridges were also damaged. At some places, tectonic subsidence and consolidation of alluvial materials dropped both highway and railroad below high-tide levels. Photo by U.S. Army. U.S. Geological Survey

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. This railroad bridge on the Kenai Peninsula was strongly compressed by channelward movement of the stream banks during the earthquake. The bridge buckled vertically, producing a sharp hump in the roadbed and lifting some of the bridge piling with it. U.S. Geological Survey photo

In this March 1964 photo released by the U.S. Geological Survey, tsunami damage is shown along the waterfront in Kodiak, Alaska. North America's largest earthquake rattled Alaska 50 years ago, killing 15 people and creating a tsunami that killed 124 more from Alaska to California. The magnitude 9.2 quake hit at 5:30 p.m. on Good Friday, turning soil beneath parts of Anchorage into jelly and collapsing buildings that were not engineered to withstand the force of colliding continental plates. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey) ( Great Alaska Earthquake )

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. Control tower at Anchorage International Airport, collapsed by earthquake shaking. Photo by Federal Aviation Agency.U.S. Geological Survey photo

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. Government Hill Elementary School in Anchorage which was destroyed by the Government Hill landslide. U.S. Geological Survey photo

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. Uplifted sea floor at Cape Cleare on Montague Island in Prince William Sound in the area of the greatest recorded tectonic uplift on land (33 feet). The very gently slopping flat rocky surface with the white coating which lies between the cliffs and the water is about a quarter of a mile wide. The white coating consists of the remains of calcareous marine organisms that were killed by desiccation when the wave-cut surface was lifted above high tide during the earthquake. U.S. Geological Survey photo

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. The village of Portage, at the head of Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet, is now flooded at high tide as a result of 6 feet of tectonic subsidence during the earthquake. U.S. Geological Survey photo

Tsunami damage at Seward. The waves came in from the sea via Resurrection Bay in the background. 1964. U.S. Geological Survey photo

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. The Four Seasons Apartments in Anchorage was a six-story lift-slab reinforced concrete building which cracked to the ground during the earthquake. The building was under construction, but structurally completed, at the time of the earthquake. The main shear- resistant structural elements of the building, a poured-in-place reinforced concrete stairwell and a combined elevator core and stairwell, fractured at the first floor, toppled over, and came to rest on top of the ruble of all six floors and the roof. U.S. Geological Survey photo

An unidentified man sits at a desk beside hi-fi sets moved to the middle of Anchorage, Alaska's Fourth Avenue, March 31, 1964, from a store that was demolished in last Friday's earthquake. He said he's hoping the weather stays clear until the sets can be moved under cover. (AP Photo) ( Alaska Earthquake 1964 )

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. Twentymile River Bridge near Turnagain Arm on Cook Inlet. The bridge fell into the river, and some of the wood piles were driven through the reinforced concrete deck. The adjacent steel railroad bridge survived with only minor damage. Both bridges were founded on thick deposits of soft alluvium and tidal flat mud and were subjected to severe seismic vibration. U.S. Geological Survey photo

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. One span of the Million Dollar truss bridge of the former Copper River and Northwestern Railroad was dropped into the Copper River by the earthquake, and the other truss spans were shifted on their piers. U.S. Geological Survey photo

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. The earthquake shifted the steel trusses of the Copper River and Northwestern Railroad bridge near Round Island from 1 to 2 feet. This view shows one of the displaced trusses, which pounded against an adjacent steel girder span. The girder span was moved to the right, its concrete pedestal was rotated, and the girder span almost fell into the river. Note the shortening indicated by buckling of the guard rail. U.S. Geological Survey photo

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. At many places along the mountain front bordering Turnagain Arm, earthquake-triggered avalanches buried the Seward Highway and the main line of The Alaska Railroad. The railroad is on top of the embankment at the foot of the mountain. The highway is at the foot of the embankment, at the edge of the mud flats. U.S. Geological Survey photo

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. A subsidence trough (or graben) formed at the head of the L Street landslide in Anchorage during the earthquake. The slide block, which is virtually unbroken ground to the left of the graben, moved to the left. The subsidence trough sank 7 to 10 feet in response to 11 feet of horizontal movement of the slide block. A number of houses were undercut or tilted by subsidence of the graben. Note also the collapsed Four Seasons Apartment Building and the undamaged three-story reinforced concrete frame building behind it, which are on the stable block beyond the graben. U.S. Geological Survey photo

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. One of the scarps bounding the graben of the L Street landslide in Anchorage. The house was undercut by subsidence of the graben. U.S. Geological Survey photo

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. Subsidence of the graben at the head of the Government Hill landslide in Anchorage tore apart an elementary school and converted the schoolyard into a jumble of fissures, scarps, and tilted and subsided blocks of broken ground. The flat and relatively unbroken large slide block in the foreground moved away from the school horizontally and as a single mass, creating a void into which the graben block spread and subsided. U.S. Geological Survey photo

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. This truck at Lowell Point, 2 miles from Seward, was bent around a tree by the surge waves generated by the underwater landslides along the Seward waterfront. The truck was about 32 feet above water level at the time of the earthquake. U.S. Geological Survey photo

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. Trees up to 24 inches in diameter and between 88 and 101 feet above sea level were broken and splintered by the surge wave generated by an underwater landslide in Port Valdez on Prince William Sound. U.S. Geological Survey photo

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. The dock area, a tank farm, and railroad facilities at Whittier were severely damaged by surge-waves developed by underwater landslides in Passage Canal. The waves inundated the area of darkened ground, where the snow was soiled or removed by the waves. U.S. Geological Survey photo

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. Indication of the violence of the surge waves that struck Whittier: man holds mounted ten-ply tire through which a 2 by 6-inch plank of wood has been driven by a wave. U.S. Geological Survey photo

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. Ground fracture in the Forest Acres area in Seward. The fracture in the foreground is about 2 feet wide. Photo by R.D. Miller, U.S. Geological Survey

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. Wrecked dwelling astride boundling fracture, L Street graben at Eighth Avenue and N Street in Anchorage. The damage was caused entirely by ground displacement along the fracture. Photo by W.R. Hansen, U.S. Geological Survey

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. Homes devastated by the Turnagain Heights landslide in Anchorage, deep within the slide area. About 75 homes were destroyed. Photo by W.R. Hansen, U.S. Geological Survey

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. Tree trunk split by tension fracture in the Turnagain Heights landslide in Anchorage. Many trees were similarly damaged because their roots were firmly embedded in the frozen ground. Photo by W.R. Hansen, U.S. Geological Survey

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. Chaotic condition of the commercial section of the city of Kodiak following inundation by seismic sea waves. The small- boat harbor, which was in left background, contained an estimated 160 crab and salmon fishing boats when the waves struck. Tsunamis washed many vessels into the heart of Kodiak. Photo by U.S. Navy, March 30, 1964, U.S. Geological Survey

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. Fire, wave, and submarine slide damage to railroad and port facilities at Whittier. Photo by U.S. Army, U.S. Geological Survey

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. Vertical displacement on the Kenai Lowland. A scarp more than 200 feet long and 2 to 3 feet high was produced in a thick section of frozen peat and organic silt. The crack at the base of the scarp was 6 inches to 1 foot wide. Another crack intersects the scarp at right angles. This displacement probably resulted from a differential compaction and downslope extension of silty deposits in a muskeg bordering a small lake. Photo by H.L. Foster, U.S. Geological Survey

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. The Alaska Railroad depot in Whittier. Wave destroyed the waiting room of the depot. Photo by R. Kachadoorian, U.S. Geological Survey

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. Chenega village site at the head of Chenega Cove in western Prince William Sound. Lower limits of snow, as shown by arrows, indicate the approximate limits of wave runup. The schoolhouse is circled. Photo by G. Plafker, March 29, 1964, U.S. Geological Survey

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. Ground fracture bounding the railroad line of Rocky Creek Delta just north of the slide that carried away part of the rail line. Photo by D.S. McCulloch, U.S. Geological Survey

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. Destructive landslides and damage in Anchorage: compressional ridge formed at the toe of the L Street landslide. Photo by A. Grantz, U.S. Geological Survey

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. Wave action moved this 120 ton locomotive 130 feet inland and 5 feet vertically. Photo by R.W. Lemke, U.S. Geological Survey

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. Extent of ground fracture and earthquake damage on the southern part of the Seward waterfront. Photo by U.S. Army, March, mosaicked by U.S. Geological Survey

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. Earthquake-damaged houses in Turnagain Heights in Anchorage. U.S. Geological Survey photo

In this March 28, 1964 file photo, a huge crevasse is seen in the middle of a street in Anchorage, Alaska in the aftermath of an earthquake. One section of the street is several feet higher than the other. (AP Photo/File) ( Great Alaska Earthquake )

4th April 1964: The small fishing village on Kodiak Island, in Alaska, littered with debris from houses and boats after an earthquake and tidal wave struck the island. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images) ( 96e/13/coel/3800/03 )

In this March 1964 photo released by the U.S. Geological Survey, Anchorage small business owners clear salvageable items and equipment from their earthquake-ravaged stores on shattered Fourth Avenue in Alaska in the aftermath of an earthquake. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey) ( Great Alaska Earthquake )

In this March 30, 1964 file photo, Anchorage small business owners were going full tilt clearing salvageable items and equipment from their earthquake-ravaged stores on shattered Fourth Avenue in Alaska, in the aftermath of an earthquake. (AP Photo, File) ( Great Alaska Earthquake )

In this March 28, 1964 file photo, with the city under martial law, soldiers patrol a downtown street in Anchorage, Alaska. In background is the wreckage of the five-story Penney store at Fifth Avenue and D Street. (AP Photo/File) ( Great Alaska Earthquake )

A house and a car are swallowed by a huge crevasse that opened in the frozen ground in the Turnagain residential area of Anchorage, Alaska, March 30, 1964, after a massive earthquake struck here three days ago, on Good Friday. (AP Photo) ( Alaska Earthquake 1964 )

The nearly-completed six-story Four Seasons apartment building just off L Street in Anchorage, Alaska, lies in ruins after yesterday's earthquake, but a home beside it appears undamaged, March 28, 1964. (AP Photo) ( Alaska Earthquake 1964 )

The path of destruction made by the quake in Alaska followed by a tsunami can be seen in this aerial view of Kodiak, March 29, 1964. The wave swept in from the lower left and towards upper right, pushing and smashing everything in its way. (AP Photo) ( Alaska Earthquake 1964 )

A forlorn couple stands on a concrete dock viewing the remains of Kodiak, Alaska water front on March 29, 1964. (AP Photo/stf) ( EARTHQUAKE OIL EXPLOSION )

In this March 1964 photo released by the U.S. Geological Survey, the Government Hill Elementary School is shown destroyed following an earthquake in Anchorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey) ( Great Alaska Earthquake )

In this March 29, 1964 file photo, a soldier crosses Fourth Avenue, the main street in Anchorage, Alaska, a city under martial law following the devastation visited upon it by an earthquake. The sign overhead advertises a production of the Thornton Wilder play. Buildings at right were called a total loss. (AP Photo/File) ( Great Alaska Earthquake )