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41-594: Girdwood may refer to: Places [ edit ] Girdwood, Anchorage, Alaska , a community within the southern extent of the Municipality of Anchorage in the state of Alaska Girdwood Airport in Girdwood, in Anchorage Borough, Alaska, United States Girdwood Depot , a passenger railroad station in Girdwood, south of Anchorage, Alaska Girdwood,

82-457: A peak ground acceleration estimate of 0.14–0.18 g . The earthquake was assigned a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of X ( Extreme ). Shaking was felt across much of Alaska and parts of western Yukon and British Columbia in Canada. The Alaska earthquake was a subduction zone (megathrust) earthquake, caused by an oceanic plate sinking under a continental plate. The fault responsible

123-416: A cost of $ 110 million. The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center was formed as a direct response to the disaster. Federal disaster relief funds paid for reconstruction as well as financially supporting the devastated infrastructure of Alaska's government, spending hundreds of millions of dollars that helped keep Alaska financially solvent until the discovery of massive oil deposits at Prudhoe Bay . At

164-510: A depth of approximately 15.5 mi (24.9 km). Ocean floor shifts created large tsunamis (up to 220 feet (67 m) in height), which resulted in many of the deaths and much of the property damage. Large rockslides were also caused, resulting in great property damage. Vertical displacement of up to 38 feet (12 m) occurred, affecting an area of 100,000 square miles (260,000 km ) within Alaska. Studies of ground motion have led to

205-624: A major disaster area the day after the quake. The U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard deployed ships to isolated coastal communities to assist with immediate needs. Bad weather and poor visibility hampered air rescue and observation efforts the day after the quake, but on Sunday the 29th the situation improved and rescue helicopters and observation aircraft were deployed. A military airlift immediately began shipping relief supplies to Alaska, eventually delivering 2,570,000 pounds (1,170,000 kg) of food and other supplies. Broadcast journalist Genie Chance assisted in recovery and relief efforts, staying on

246-820: A massive underwater landslide, resulting in the deaths of 32 people between the collapse of the Valdez city harbor and docks, and inside the ship that was docked there at the time. Nearby, a 27-foot (8.2 m) tsunami destroyed the village of Chenega , killing 23 of the 68 people who lived there. The survivors out-ran the wave, climbing to high ground. Post-quake tsunamis severely affected Whittier , Seward , Kodiak , and other Alaskan communities, as well as people and property in British Columbia , Washington , Oregon , and California . Tsunamis also caused damage in Hawaii and Japan . Evidence of motion directly related to

287-541: A number of creeks, which either converge within the valley or empty directly into the arm. Girdwood is typically accessed by the Seward Highway (Milepost 90), with the main line of the Alaska Railroad paralleling the highway. By road distance, most of the community lies within 35 to 40 miles (56 to 64 km) of Downtown Anchorage . The 2019 American Community Survey estimates a population of 1,742 in

328-721: A railway flag stop on the Sudbury–White River train , Ontario, Canada People with the surname [ edit ] Eric Girdwood (1876–1963), British military officer who served as General Officer Commanding the Northern Ireland District from 1931 to 1935 Gilbert Girdwood (1832–1917), English army and civilian physician and surgeon, academic and author, noted for his service in the Canadian Army Ronald Girdwood (1917–2006), Scottish medical doctor, Professor of Medicine at

369-491: A report on May 8, 1964, just a little more than a month after the earthquake. The United States military, which has a large active presence in Alaska, also stepped in to assist within moments of the end of the quake. The U.S. Army rapidly re-established communications with the lower 48 states, deployed troops to assist the citizens of Anchorage, and dispatched a convoy to Valdez. On the advice of military and civilian leaders, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared all of Alaska

410-556: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Girdwood, Anchorage, Alaska Girdwood is a resort town within the southern extent of the Municipality of Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska . Located near the end of the Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet , Girdwood lies in a valley in the southwestern Chugach Mountains , surrounded by seven glaciers feeding into

451-541: The KENI air waves over Anchorage for more than 24 continuous hours as the voice of calm from her temporary post within the Anchorage Public Safety Building. She was effectively designated as the public safety officer by the city's police chief. Chance provided breaking news of the catastrophic events that continued to develop following the magnitude 9.2 earthquake, and she served as the voice of

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492-534: The Klondike Gold Rush , and Warren Miller 's 1997 Snowriders II . Girdwood was the home of Alaska's former senior U.S. Senator Ted Stevens , and Girdwood found itself in the media spotlight when the construction projects on Stevens' home became the subject of a federal investigation. Olympic gold and silver medal-winning skier Tommy Moe also called Girdwood home during his high school years, during which he attended Glacier Creek Academy. Girdwood

533-579: The Ship Creek valley near the Alaska Railroad yards also slid, destroying many acres of buildings and city blocks in downtown Anchorage. Most other areas of the city were only moderately damaged. The 60-foot (18 m) concrete control tower at Anchorage International Airport was not engineered to withstand earthquake activity and collapsed, killing William George Taylor, the Federal Aviation Agency air traffic controller on duty in

574-590: The Turnagain Arm , were destroyed by subsidence and subsequent tidal action. Girdwood was relocated inland and Portage was abandoned. About 20 miles (32 km) of the Seward Highway sank below the high-water mark of Turnagain Arm; the highway and its bridges were raised and rebuilt in 1964–66. Most coastal towns in the Prince William Sound, Kenai Peninsula , and Kodiak Island areas, especially

615-622: The ballistic missile detection radar of Clear Air Force Station to go offline for six minutes, the only unscheduled interruption in its operational history. Near Cordova , the Million Dollar Bridge crossing the Copper River also suffered damage, with Span #4 slipping off its pylon and collapsing. The community of Girdwood was also confined to the southern side of the Seward Highway when water rushed into Turnagain Arm and flooded or destroyed any buildings left standing to

656-550: The Kenai peninsula. Evidence indicates the area has seen six major quakes in the past 3,300 years. Girdwood was incorporated as a city in 1961 and was absorbed into the Municipality of Anchorage in 1975, when the Greater Anchorage Area Borough unified with Anchorage and the borough's smaller cities. The town has served as a backdrop for at least two films: The Chechahcos , a 1924 silent film about

697-742: The University of Edinburgh and a President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Girdwood . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Girdwood&oldid=1218864557 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Disambiguation pages with surname-holder lists Hidden categories: Short description

738-486: The World". The second was the 1964 earthquake , which devastated the original townsite located directly along the arm. Following the earthquake, most of the town moved further up the valley to a new townsite, though a few homes remained and a strip mall was later constructed along the Seward Highway. Historically dominated in the years since the resort's opening by seasonally-occupied vacation homes and seasonal activity at

779-531: The city built on sandy bluffs overlying " Bootlegger Cove clay " near Cook Inlet , most notably the Turnagain neighborhood, suffered landslide damage. The neighborhood lost 75 houses in the landslide, and the destroyed area has since been turned into Earthquake Park . The Government Hill school suffered from the Government Hill landslide, leaving it in two jagged, broken pieces. Land overlooking

820-452: The community. Summer activities are also popular, which include hiking, fishing and rafting. The Girdwood Forest Fair, held every July, is the community's most significant visitor attraction apart from resort-related activities. Girdwood is located within the northernmost extent of rain forest on Earth, and also serves as the closest point of access to Chugach National Forest from Anchorage proper. Originally called "Glacier City," Girdwood

861-581: The damage done by the earthquake to the city. The team, called the Engineering and Geological Evaluation Group, was headed by Dr. Ruth A. M. Schmidt , a geology professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage . The team of scientists came into conflict with local developers and downtown business owners who wanted to immediately rebuild; the scientists wanted to identify future dangers to ensure that rebuilt infrastructure would be safe. The team produced

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902-517: The earthquake was also reported from Florida and Texas . On March 27, 1964, at 5:36 p.m. AKST (March 28, at 3:36 a.m. UTC ), a fault between the Pacific and North American plates ruptured near College Fjord in Prince William Sound. The epicenter of the earthquake was 12.4 mi (20.0 km) north of Prince William Sound , 78 miles (126 km) east of Anchorage and 40 miles (64 km) west of Valdez. The focus occurred at

943-522: The earthquake. The tsunami then reached Tofino , on the exposed west coast of Vancouver Island , and traveled up a fjord to hit Port Alberni twice, washing away 55 homes and damaging 375 others. The towns of Hot Springs Cove , Zeballos , and Amai also saw damage. The damage in British Columbia was estimated at CA$ 10 million ($ 96 million in 2023 Canadian dollars or $ 91 million in 2023 US dollars). Twelve people were killed by

984-836: The magnitude 9.2–9.3 megathrust earthquake remains the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in North America , and the second most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the world since modern seismography began in 1900. Six hundred miles (970 km) of fault ruptured at once and moved up to 60 ft (18 m), releasing about 500 years of stress buildup. Soil liquefaction , fissures, landslides, and other ground failures caused major structural damage in several communities and much damage to property. Anchorage sustained great destruction or damage to many inadequately earthquake-engineered houses, buildings, and infrastructure (paved streets, sidewalks, water and sewer mains, electrical systems, and other man-made equipment), particularly in

1025-453: The major ports of Seward , Whittier and Kodiak were heavily damaged by a combination of seismic activity, subsidence , post-quake tsunamis and/or earthquake-caused fires . Valdez with 32 dead was not totally destroyed, but after three years, the town relocated to higher ground four miles (6.4 km) west of its original site. Some Alaska Native villages, including Chenega and Afognak , were destroyed or damaged. The earthquake caused

1066-495: The majority of the tsunami damage. Tsunami waves were noted in over 20 countries, including Peru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Japan, Mexico, and in the continent of Antarctica . The largest tsunami wave was recorded in Shoup Bay , Alaska, with a height of about 220 ft (67 m). As a result of the earthquake, 131 people are believed to have died: Nine died as a result of the earthquake itself and another 122 died from

1107-473: The north of the highway. Only the ground immediately along the highway and that on the north side of the road dropped, prompting geologists to speculate that Girdwood may rest upon an ancient cliff face covered by thousands of years of sediment and glacial deposits. A 4.5 ft (1.4 m) wave reached Prince Rupert, British Columbia , just south of the Alaska Panhandle , about three hours after

1148-429: The original townsite subsided into Turnagain Arm, putting much of the town below high tide. The nearby settlement of Alyeska was abandoned and most of its inhabitants moved to the new Girdwood townsite as well. The land has not all since been reclaimed, as one can still see inundated cabins in the marshy areas into which the city formerly extended. Significant earthquakes are a relatively common occurrence for Girdwood and

1189-458: The public safety office, coordinating response efforts, connecting available resources to needs around the community, disseminating information about shelters and prepared food rations, passing messages of well-being between loved ones, and helping to reunite families. In the longer term, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers led the effort to rebuild roads, clear debris, and establish new townsites for communities that had been completely destroyed, at

1230-549: The region for more than a year. Alaska had never experienced a major disaster in a highly populated area before, and had very limited resources for dealing with the effects of such an event. In Anchorage, at the urging of geologist Lidia Selkregg , the City of Anchorage and the Alaska State Housing Authority appointed a team of 40 scientists, including geologists, soil scientists, and engineers, to assess

1271-590: The resort, the opening of the Alyeska Prince Hotel during the 1990s has shifted the resort, and hence Girdwood as a whole, more towards year-round activity and a year-round economy. This has led to periodic debates about community growth and affordability of housing for resort workers, many of whom over the years have resorted to camping illegally on public lands. Girdwood still revolves heavily around seasonal activity, with skiing and snowboarding at Alyeska Resort bringing visitors and their money into

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1312-443: The several landslide zones along Knik Arm . Two hundred miles (320 km) southwest, some areas near Kodiak were permanently raised by 30 feet (9 m). Southeast of Anchorage, areas around the head of Turnagain Arm near Girdwood and Portage dropped as much as 8 feet (2.4 m), requiring reconstruction and fill to raise the Seward Highway above the new high tide mark. In Prince William Sound , Port Valdez suffered

1353-591: The subsequent tsunamis all over the world. Five died from the tsunami in Oregon , and 12 died from the tsunami in Crescent City , California . Property damage was estimated at $ 116 million ($ 0.87 billion in 2023 dollars). Most damage occurred in Anchorage, 75 mi (121 km) northwest of the epicenter. Anchorage was not hit by tsunamis, but downtown Anchorage was heavily damaged, and parts of

1394-438: The tower cab at the time the earthquake began. One house on W. 10th Avenue suffered peripheral damage, but only one block away the recently completed (and still unoccupied) Four Seasons Building on Ninth Avenue collapsed completely, with the concrete elevator shafts sticking up out of the rubble like a seesaw. The hamlets of Girdwood and Portage , located 30 and 40 mi (48 and 64 km) southeast of central Anchorage on

1435-527: The tsunami in or near Crescent City, California , while four children were killed on the Oregon coast at Beverly Beach State Park . Other coastal towns in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and Hawaii were damaged. Minor damage to boats occurred as far south as Los Angeles. Effects of the earthquake were even noted as far east as Freeport, Texas , where tide gauges recorded waves similar to seismic surface waves . Seiches were detected in wells in countries around

1476-497: The valley. Founded as a community to supply miners during the Turnagain Arm gold rushes of the 1890s, Girdwood was mostly a small, quiet place until the middle of the 20th century. Two events drastically altered that. The first was the establishment of Alyeska Resort along the slopes of Mount Alyeska, which became an international destination coincidental with Anchorage's civic promotion of itself as "The Air Crossroads of

1517-399: The world, including England, Namibia, and Australia. There were hundreds of aftershocks in the first weeks following the main shock. In the first day alone, eleven major aftershocks were recorded with a magnitude greater than 6.0. Nine more struck over the next three weeks. In all, thousands of aftershocks occurred in the months following the quake, and smaller aftershocks continued to strike

1558-413: Was founded as a supply camp for placer gold miners with claims along the creeks feeding Turnagain Arm. It was renamed for Colonel James Girdwood, a Belfast -born, Scots-Irish entrepreneur and linen merchant who staked the first four gold claims along Crow Creek in 1896. The town was moved 2.5 miles (4.0 km) up the valley after the devastating Good Friday earthquake of 1964, when the land under

1599-575: Was observed for 285,000 km (110,000 sq mi) from north and west of the sound, in Chugach Mountains, most of Kenai Peninsula, and almost all the Kodiak Island group. Two types of tsunami were produced by this subduction zone earthquake. There was a tectonic tsunami produced in addition to about 20 smaller and local tsunamis. These smaller tsunamis were produced by submarine and subaerial landslides and were responsible for

1640-656: Was shown on CBS on January 20, 2008, as the finish line for The Amazing Race 12 . According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Girdwood has a subarctic climate , abbreviated "Dfc" on climate maps. Girdwood first appeared on the 1950 U.S. Census as an unincorporated village. It formally incorporated as a city in 1961 and merged into Anchorage in 1975. 60°56′33″N 149°09′59″W  /  60.94250°N 149.16639°W  / 60.94250; -149.16639 1964 Alaska earthquake Lasting four minutes and thirty-eight seconds,

1681-661: Was the Aleutian Megathrust , a reverse fault caused by a compressional force. This caused much of the uneven ground which is the result of ground shifted to the opposite elevation. Uplift occurred across 520,000 km (200,000 sq mi) from southern Kodiak to Prince William Sound and further east of the sound. The maximum uplift was in Montague Island, where the ground was raised 13–15 m (43–49 ft) relative to sea level. The uplift also affected Kodiak, Sitkalidak, and Sitkinak islands. Subsidence

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