The great Alaskan Earthquake

On Good Friday, March 1964, at 5:36 pm local time, the strain of the warping crust at the plate boundaries of the Pacific and North American plates under Northern Prince William Sound, Alaska, gave way to cause the second largest earthquake in recorded history. The earthquake was recorded as having a moment magnitude of 8.4, but later revised to the astonishing 9.2. The epicenter was located 20 – 30 kilometers below the surface of the earth, at latitude 61.04 N, and longitude 147.73 W near Prince William Sound. The rupture in the rocks and the ground deformation extended 800 kilometers, parallel to the Aleutian trench. Along the shoreline of southern Alaska was a belt of uplift up to 10 meters on the coast and 15 offshore, while inland there was subsidence. (The 1964 Alaskan Earthquake)
The 1964 Alaskan earthquake was caused by a thrust fault subduction zone that is occurring in southern Alaska and forming the Aleutian Island Arc. Running parallel to the volcanic island arcs i...