Images

1964 aerial photograph of St. Mary's Residence and the nearby Four Seasons Apartment Building (#25 on map), Anchorage, Alaska. copyright: Air Photo Tech - NV5 Geospatial

Damage to building from seismic vibrations. The Alaska Sales and Service building in Anchorage, which was under construction, partially collapsed during the earthquake. The building was constructed of pre-cast and pre-stressed concrete roof "T"s which rested on pre-cast reinforced-concrete T-columns, and it had pre-cast reinforced-concrete walls.

Close-up of the compressional buckle, the ruptured fuel tank, and the revetment at the foot of the landslide near the Alaska Native Hospital in Anchorage.

Anchorage municipal wharf area shortly after the earthquake at low tide. The main dock was only slightly damaged, but the older Army dock (upper left) was ruined. Vibration and ground fractures damaged some structures in the port area, including the petroleum tank (lower right). Photo by U.S. Army.

The marquee of the Denali Theater, which was in the graben of the Fourth Avenue landslide in Anchorage, subsided until it came to rest on the sidewalk in front of the theater, which was on ground not involved in the landslide.

Collapse of Fourth Avenue near C Street, Anchorage, due to a landslide caused by earthquake. Anchorage, Anchorage District, Cook Inlet Region, Alaska. (Photo by U.S. Army). Published as Figure 45 in U.S. Geological Survey. Professional Paper 541. 1966.

The 1200 "L" Street Building in Anchorage, a fourteen-story reinforced concrete apartment building, was severely damaged during the earthquake. One the main exterior piers (the white bearing walls without windows)shown in this slide, failed at the second floor, exposing the steel reinforced bars within the concrete.

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964. Damage to houses from landslides in Turnagain Heights in Anchorage. Photo by R.A. Page.
Pages 24-25, Earthquake Information Bulletin, v.12, no.1.

View of damage to the Mt. McKinley Apartments in Anchorage, Alaska caused by the March 27, 1964 earthquake. Image includes automobiles, people, and power lines. Yellow sign on building reads fallout shelter. Sign on building reads Blue mirror bar lounge. Sign on building, lower right, reads Physicians optical guild opticans.

Arc-shaped bluff that many interpret to be evidence of landsliding during a pre-1964 earthquake of unknown age. The Frank and Maxine Reed Family Staircase at this stop was built to accommodate pedestrian traffic over a steep bluff along West Twelfth Avenue which is made discontinuous by the bluff. There was no sliding on this feature in 1964.

Damage to building from seismic vibration. The Fifth Avenue Chrysler Center in Anchorage was constructed of pre-cast, pre-stressed concrete roof T's which rested on concrete block walls in most parts of the building. However, in the showroom area the roof T's rested on reinforced concrete columns.

Native Hospital landslide in Anchorage, showing graben and pressure ridge. The scar of an older landslide is transected by the slide of March 27.

Wreckage of Government Hill School in Anchorage, as viewed from the playground, looking west. The graben in the foreground is about 12 feet deep. The water tower is undamaged.

Warehouses at the toe of the Fourth Avenue landslide in Anchorage were destroyed by compressional buckling and foreshortening that are illustrated in slides 49 and 50.  Much of the supply of food and drink for the city of Anchorage was stored in these buildings, and they were guarded by Eskimo units of the Alaska National Guard.

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964.

Destructive landslides and damage in Anchorage: graben at the head of the L Street landslide.
Anchorage District, Cook Inlet Region, Alaska, 1964.
Photo by A. Grantz.
Published in U. S.Geological Survey. Circular 491, Figures 18A & 18B, p.31. 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.

The Four Seasons Apartments in Anchorage was a six-story lift-slab reinforced concrete building which crashed to the ground during the earthquake. The building was under construction, but structurally completed, at the time of the earthquake.

Part of the Turnagain Heights landslide in Anchorage shortly after the earthquake.
Anchorage, Anchorage District, Cook Inlet Region, Alaska, 1964.
Photo by W.R. Hansen, 1964.
Published in Frontispiece, U.S. Geological Survey Professional paper 541, 1966.

The control tower at Anchorage International Airport fell to the ground during the earthquake. It was a split-level structure that was seven stories high on one side and built of reinforced concrete.

Album caption: Wreckage of the J.C. Penney's Department Store at Fifth Avenue and D Street. Building failed after sustained seismic shaking. Most of rubble has been cleared from the streets. Anchorage, Anchorage District, Cook Inlet Region, Alaska, 1964. (Photo by George Plafker). Published as Figure 5 in U.S. Geological Survey. Professional Paper 542-A. 1965.