PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND EARTHQUAKE, MARCH 28, 1964

Damage to Fourth Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska

[LANDSLIDES] This view of damage to Fourth Avenue buildings in downtown Anchorage shows the damage resulting from the slide in this area. Before the earthquake, the sidewalk in front of the stores on the left, which are in the graben, was at the level of the street on the right, which was not involved in the subsidence. The graben subsided 11 feet (3.3 m) in response to 14 feet (4.2 m) of horizontal movement of the slide block during the earthquake. Lateral spreading produced a fan-shaped slide 1,800 feet (545.5 m) across that covered about 36 acres (14.6 hectares) and moved a maximum of 17 feet (5.1 m). Movement on the landslide began after about 1 to 2 minutes of ground shaking and stopped when the shaking stopped. Photograph Credit: NOAA/NGDC.