In 1964 on March 28, I survived the enormous Tsunami on the coast of Port Alberni due to the Earthquake that struck Alaska; it was the second most powerful earthquake that had ever been recorded in the U.S. The richer scale rating was a 9.2. The earthquake effected many people, not just in the U.S but in Canada as well. The earthquake was close to the surface due to the amount of shaking and homes destroyed. It created a couple of massive tsunamis, one hit Prince Rupert and the other hit Port Alberni. I was so scared; we were all woken up in the middle of the night and evacuated. I climbed out of bed only to realize I was standing in water up to my knees, it was so cold. I made sure I grabbed our dog that was on the bed as well; I slowly waded through the freezing water out the door. It was a devastating event for our small community of Port. Lots of homes were destroyed and peoples belongings gone.
The Devastating Alaska earthquake was caused due to the Northwestward motion of the pacific plates, they move every year creating the plates to bend and be warped. With some areas along the coast being depressed (A con caved hole in the ground) and some being uplift(Vertical elevation cause by natural disasters), after periods of years the pressure is relieved. An effect of the earthquake was large scale motion of the sea floor generated by underwater landslides. The first wave was eight feet tall it was followed an hour later by a 10 foot wave, the tsunami was so large because it came through the canal and was enclosed and compact which made it a lot bigger. The estimated damages from this tsunami were estimated to be around $5 million dollars. Looking back on this disaster I am very grateful that those people woke me up to get out of my house. The earthquake was estimated to be about $311 million dollars, 139 were killed. The mill in Port Alberni was shut down and the four thousand people employed were temporarily out a job. As I sit here years after the devastation, I wanted to tell everyone how this event affected everyone in our small community. The environment was also effect trees hit the ground fissures opened up in the streets. As I sit here and reflect on all of the many new facts I heard about the earthquake and tsunami, Everyday you do something new, and today I decided to do some more research on the disaster I was involved in. |
Website Title: The Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964
Article Title: The Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964
Date Accessed: November 16, 2015
Website Title: Tsunami: Resources
Article Title: Tsunami: Resources
Date Accessed: November 16, 2015
Website Title: Wikipedia
Publisher: Wikimedia Foundation
Date Accessed: November 19, 2015
Article Title: The Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964
Date Accessed: November 16, 2015
Website Title: Tsunami: Resources
Article Title: Tsunami: Resources
Date Accessed: November 16, 2015
Website Title: Wikipedia
Publisher: Wikimedia Foundation
Date Accessed: November 19, 2015