Earthquake Stories
1964 Anchorage, Alaska Quake
Arthur Barrett's Story
I was living in a trailer in Anchorage during the Good Friday earthquake and when the earthquake started it sounded like a subway train approacing a station (a low rumbling sound). Everything in the trailer shook and since I was in the kitchen I kept trying to push the fridge back where it belonged. My wife and mother-in-law were screaming in the front room but I could not get to them due to the rolling and pitching. Afterwards we saw the two flourescent bulbs had come loose from the fixture and fell between them but no one heard them break (too much noise and confusion I guess). My two sons were outside sledding and we could not see them but after the shaking was over they came running into the trailer and were pretty shook up but ok. The only damage to my trailer was a chip in the bathtub where a metal bucket was setting and apparently it bounced hard enough in the tub to chip the porcelain. Of course when we opened the cabinets all the dishes were against the doors and some fell out before we realized that they were right up against the doors.
The radio station was on the air and we could listen to the news reports as we had battery powered radios. I remember in between the reports (about an hour or so after the initial quake) they were trying to keep everyone calm and even had the top ten earthquake songs. I only remember two which are "Standing on the corner watching the world go by" and "Theres a whole lot of shaking going on".
There were very few if any fires as everyone was told to not turn on any type of gas and of course there was no electricity or water being supplied. Since almost everyone who lived there at the time was a hunter or fisherman almost everyone had enough clothing to stay warm and cook stoves to cook food on.
The radio station was on the air and we could listen to the news reports as we had battery powered radios. I remember in between the reports (about an hour or so after the initial quake) they were trying to keep everyone calm and even had the top ten earthquake songs. I only remember two which are "Standing on the corner watching the world go by" and "Theres a whole lot of shaking going on".
There were very few if any fires as everyone was told to not turn on any type of gas and of course there was no electricity or water being supplied. Since almost everyone who lived there at the time was a hunter or fisherman almost everyone had enough clothing to stay warm and cook stoves to cook food on.