Gallery: The 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake

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Lifelines

1964 alaska earthquake damage

(Image credit: USGS)

Important roads, railways, bridges and ports were destroyed during the earthquake, leaving planes and helicopters as the only lifeline for supplies.

"Million-dollar" loss

1964 alaska earthquake damage

(Image credit: USGS)

A span of the so-called "Million Dollar Bridge" collapsed during the earthquake.

Railroad damage

1964 alaska earthquake damage

(Image credit: USGS)

It took 2.5 years to repair the earthquake damage to the Alaska Railroad.

A town lost

1964 alaska earthquake damage

(Image credit: USGS)

Valdez was moved to safer ground after the docks and part of the town slid into the water on top of a landslide. The snow line marks flooding from the tsunami that followed.

Becky Oskin
Becky Oskin
Contributing Writer
Becky Oskin covers Earth science, climate change and space, as well as general science topics. Becky was a science reporter at Live Science and The Pasadena Star-News; she has freelanced for New Scientist and the American Institute of Physics. She earned a master's degree in geology from Caltech, a bachelor's degree from Washington State University, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz.