PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND EARTHQUAKE, MARCH 28, 1964

Subsidence at Portage, Alaska

[UPLIFT AND SUBSIDENCE] The village of Portage, at the head of Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet, is flooded at high tide as a result of 6 feet (1.8 m) of tectonic subsidence during the earthquake. After the quake, the shoreline was as much as 2 miles (3.4 km) inland from the pre-earthquake mean shore line. The town of Portage was inundated and covered with a blanket of silt. Much of the highway to Anchorage was covered by water. Photograph Credit: U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA.