This is an excellent history of one of the most catastrophic earthquakes in US history. Even for those who believed they knew the risks of where they lived, the magnitude of this quake quite literally shook everyone to their core.

Coming at at critical time in the research about how the crust of the earth behaved, or maybe accelerated it, the range and unexpected damage, the 1964 quake helped to clarify the dynamics of plate tectonics. The areas of uplift and subduction were so vast and high/low previous theories simply didn't explain them any other way.

The author begins with a history of the region and the development of the settlements and towns. The different character of each village and its people as they go about their daily lives colors the region and its day to day activities. The devastation of the quake and how much was required to begin to rebuild was impossible to measure. But they had no choice and turned their efforts towards restoring what they could.

This is a great read, absorbing and interesting. The narrative flows easily as the author paints a detailed and compassionate picture of before, during and after this massive event.

A high octane read! One that will have you rockin' and a rollin!

Must read for all interested in earthquakes and geology! I was expecting to read about several eye-witness accounts of the great Alaskan earthquake on Good Friday, 1964. Much to my delight and surprise, the book is chockful of scientific theories and eventual acceptance of those theories. I learned so much! Chenega had a population of around 100 folks. Thank goodness, they did not have more. To have the ground shake in the manner that it did.. for a full five minutes. Holy mackerelly! Second largest quake in modern times.

Still! It tells the human side of the story as well. The story of the one room school teacher to those on a ship.. docked and unloading.. Most of the stories are from those that lived in the little village of Chenega. Many other stories are told as well.. Those that lived in Anchorage.. to the many coastal areas all over the world that were hit with tsunami waves brought about by the Great Quake.

This story was a must read for me. My Uncle, Aunt and cousins lived in Anchorage when the Great Quake hit. As they were young.. and going from one Adrenalin rush to another that day.. I just wanted to read other's accounts to find out if the events were as they remembered it. Now, I see.. how much they were shielded from learning by the elders. My cousins were little fellows at the time. They were lucky to not have been as deeply impacted mentally and physically as so many others were during the quake and multiple tsunamis that hit that day, in March of 1964.

Just A Great Book

The Alaska Earthquake of 1964 was one of the most powerful earthquakes ever measured on the planet, and the largest ever to occur in the US-and yet many Americans have never heard of it, or are only vaguely aware of the event. Henry Fountain delivers not only an excellent look at the earthquake and the damage and suffering that it caused, but also shows how it changed our understanding of how the Earth is put together.

=== The Good Stuff ===

* There are a number of topics buried inside this book. There is a description of life in Alaska shortly after statehood, but before the wealth of the oil era. There is a discussion of the geology of Alaska, the mechanics of the earthquake, and how the study of this quake drove the modern science of plate tectonics. Finally, there is a great description of the earthquake itself and the way it changed the topography and culture in Alaska.

* Fountain has a marvelous writing style. While some of the geology could have been dry, the book keeps moving, and was a pleasure to read. There are a number of named characters in the book, but not so many as to create confusion or disinterest. More than anything, the book reminded me of James Michener’s classic, Alaska. I ended up reading the book in a couple sittings, and was left wanting more.

* The book contains a nice mix of events and descriptions. We see the horror of someone’s children being wrenched out of their grasp by a tsunami; contemplate the bravery of military firefighters preventing nuclear missiles from exploding in a fire; watch a relatively unknown geologist take on the established wisdom and allow man’s understanding of plate tectonics to develop; and finally watch as the citizens of Alaska absorb a major hit, and make decisions on rebuilding their lives.

*Finally, Fountain does a masterful job at putting the quake in perspective. I have never lived through a high-magnitude earthquake (and hope I never do), and it is difficult to comprehend the difference between a “major” 7.1 earthquake in California and the 9.2 magnitude of the 1964 quake. But I can get a feel for forces it might take to cause a mountain top to crash into lowland at 200mph. Of the destruction required to allow a USCG plane to fly over a village and report no damage…because there was so little left of the village that the pilot didn’t even realize it had been there.

=== The Not-So-Good Stuff ===

* I was reading an advance proof on a Kindle, so this may be changed in the final version, but the book screamed for pictures and a few more maps. There is a pair of maps at the beginning, but I found myself looking for other maps to comprehend parts of the story. Likewise, there are many pictures of the quake and its damage available online, but a few interspersed in the text would have been helpful

* While the author includes a section on what happened to the major named characters, I would have preferred to have a bit more information about how modern Alaska was changed and influenced by the quake. Did building codes change? Are the fault lines better understood, and taken into account before development occurs? There is one tantalizing hint- almost offhandedly, Fountain mentions that the lessons of the post-quake tsunami were incorporated into building plans for facilities in coastal areas. The tsunami-related damage to Japan’s Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant shows how well these lessons were learned.


=== Summary ===

I enjoyed the book, and would whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone with an interest in Alaska, its history, its geology, or the development of earthquake-related science. But even if none of those interest you, the book is a great look at humans in crisis, and how they can band together and survive a nasty situation. As a resident of the Pacific Northwest, it is impossible to read the book and wonder what would happen if a similar event struck today 1000 miles to the south.