Stand in Earthquake Park in Anchorage and the ground looks like a quiet wooded rise above the water, until you learn that a whole neighborhood slid out from under its houses here. That is usually the moment a traveler starts asking whether the ground in Alaska is still moving. It is, and the state has a long record of it, along with a very good reason to take the subject seriously and calmly.
Does Alaska have earthquakes?
Yes, Alaska has earthquakes all the time, and the count is far higher than most visitors expect.Nearly all of them are too small to feel, picked up by instruments rather than by people, and they pass without anyone on a street corner or a trail noticing.
The reason sits under the Gulf of Alaska. The Pacific Plate pushes northward underneath the North American Plate, and the strain stored along that boundary is released in sudden slips. The 1964 quake was exactly that kind of event. A second giant of a different sort struck the interior: the 2002 Denali earthquake had a magnitude of 7.9, a reminder that the shaking is not limited to the coast.
More than shaking: landslides and waves
In Alaska, an earthquake is often only the first act. Seismically triggered landslides are one of the greatest geologic hazards in Anchorage, and scientists have mapped them for planning, zoning and emergency response. The city lives with that knowledge in the way other places live with floods or snow.
Slides can also fall into water. Lituya Bay had its most notorious landslide in July 1958, and it generated a devastating tsunami. More recently, a story on the Alaska Earthquake Center website described a massive collapse in glacier terrain followed by massive flooding along the Nepal border, which sounds familiar to many Alaskans. Steep fjords, glaciers and cold water are part of the same landscape that draws visitors.
A moment on the water: the Hanse Explorer
On the evening of Aug. 9, 2025, passengers on the Hanse Explorer finished taking selfies and videos of the South Sawyer Glacier, and the ship headed back down the fjord. The Alaska Earthquake Center tells that story as part of its coverage of a landslide-generated wave in a glacier fjord. It shows how an ordinary scenic evening, with cameras out and a glacier in view, sits inside terrain that can change quickly.
Nothing about that should keep anyone from a fjord cruise. It simply explains why scientists in the state watch glaciers, slopes and faults together, and why the work on warning systems matters to the people who live here.
Early warning, a work in progress
Alaskans are closer to having critical seconds of warning that shaking from a major earthquake is about to occur. Earthquake early warning does not predict a quake days ahead. It detects the first waves near the source and sends an alert before the stronger shaking arrives farther away, which can give people a few seconds to drop, cover and hold on.
How big was the 1964 earthquake?
The 1964 Alaska earthquake was magnitude 9.2, among the strongest ever recorded, and it struck the Prince William Sound region on March 27, 1964, at 5:36 pm local time. It was a Good Friday evening, and the shaking went on for roughly four and a half minutes. Another account puts it at four minutes and thirty-eight seconds.
| Detail | 1964 earthquake |
|---|---|
| Date and local time | March 27, 1964, 5:36 pm |
| Magnitude | 9.2 |
| Duration | About 4.5 minutes |
| Rupture began | About 25 km beneath the surface |
| Epicenter | About 6 miles east of the mouth of College Fiord |
| From Valdez | 56 miles west |
| From Anchorage | 75 miles east |
| Deaths | About 139 |
| Largest wave | About 220 feet, Shoup Bay near Valdez |
The cause was the Pacific Plate lurching northward beneath the North American Plate. Of the deaths, 124 came from tsunamis in Alaska, Oregon and California, which tells you how far the water traveled from the source.
Anchorage and Earthquake Park
In the Turnagain neighborhood, a landslide took 75 houses. The destroyed area has since become Earthquake Park, a place of trees, trails and views over the water where the ground is the exhibit. Walking there, you can read the lumpy, broken shape of the land and picture the slope that gave way.
It is one of the clearest places in the state to understand what a great earthquake does to ground that looks stable. Panels on site tell the story, and the quiet of the park makes the contrast with 1964 stronger.
Turnagain Arm: Girdwood, Portage and the Seward Highway
Along Turnagain Arm the land itself dropped. Girdwood, 30 miles southeast of central Anchorage, was destroyed by subsidence and tidal action and was relocated inland. Portage, 40 miles southeast of central Anchorage, was destroyed and abandoned.
About 20 miles of the Seward Highway sank below the high-water mark of the arm.Travelers on that road today are driving over the repair.
Valdez, Chenega and the Copper River
Valdez was not totally destroyed, but after three years the town relocated to higher ground four miles west of its original site. Shoup Bay, near Valdez, recorded the largest wave of the event.
At Chenega, a 27-foot tsunami destroyed the village and killed 23 of the 68 people who lived there. Survivors outran the wave to high ground. Near Cordova, Span #4 of the Million Dollar Bridge over the Copper River slipped off its pylon and collapsed.
Reading and watching more
The documentary Though the Earth be Moved chronicles the first 72 hours after the quake and the response by the Office of Civil Defense, the military and local, state and federal officials. For deeper reading, USGS Professional Paper 542 describes the effects on Alaskan communities, and Professional Paper 545 covers transportation, communications and utilities.
What should visitors know?
Visitors should know that earthquakes are a normal part of life in Alaska, that most are too small to feel, and that the larger ones come with hazards beyond the shaking itself: slides, waves and shifting ground. The state’s history is told openly in its parks and towns, and understanding it makes a trip richer.
Think about the ground and the water
The record points to three kinds of danger: shaking, landslides on slopes and in Anchorage’s mapped hazard zones, and waves in fjords and bays. Lituya Bay in 1958 and the Hanse Explorer story in 2025 both involve slides into water, while Chenega in 1964 shows a tsunami reaching a village within minutes.
If you feel strong, long shaking while on the coast, the lesson of Chenega is to head for high ground, as the survivors did. Follow instructions from local officials and signage in the place where you are.
Places that tell the story
Earthquake Park in Anchorage, the Seward Highway along Turnagain Arm, the relocated Girdwood and the new town of Valdez are all places where 1964 is visible without any special effort. Each shows a different effect: a slide, a sinking coastline, a village rebuilt inland, a town moved to higher ground.
Reading the landscape this way turns a drive or a walk into something more specific. You notice the road’s height above the water, the trees that grow where houses stood, and the placement of towns away from their original sites.
Keeping up with current activity
The list of notable Alaska earthquakes includes only damaging, injurious or deadly events and those of scientific interest, which is why it is short next to the full tally. With early warning edging closer, the state is working on giving people critical seconds before strong shaking arrives.
Good to know before you go
Earthquake Park in Anchorage and the Seward Highway along Turnagain Arm are reachable stops where the 1964 story is visible. Before heading to a fjord, glacier or coastal village, take a moment to look at where high ground is, as the people of Chenega did.
A small tremor is common in Alaska and usually passes quickly, so a trip to the state need not change because of it. Daylight, closures and costs depend on the place and season you choose, so plan each stop on its own.
Sources
- Alaska Earthquake Center (https://earthquake.alaska.edu/), checked October 11, 2026
- U.S. Geological Survey, 1964 Alaska earthquake and tsunami (https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/events/alaska1964/), checked October 11, 2026
- Wikipedia, 1964 Alaska earthquake (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Alaska_earthquake), checked October 11, 2026
- Wikipedia, List of earthquakes in Alaska (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Alaska), checked October 11, 2026