We arrived in Seward late in the afternoon weary from the long rainy drive. Our creek side campground was located just outside of town. After leaving the highway, we crossed over railroad tracks, a one lane bridge and after a short distance the pavement ended. From there, it was black gravel with potholes big enough to swallow a tire. I was beginning to think we might regret camping there but when we arrived it was actually pretty nice. All around were signs warning bear country and with our closeness to water, I wondered if we would see any and I worried about the girls if we did. Certainly we saw lots of scat all over the property but thankfully we did not encounter any bears face-to-face.
We visited the local Library/Museum. The museum section was very interesting. We learned about how the town formed and grew under the guiding hands of many influential people who helped mold the city. As we have traveled, we have heard many references to the big earthquake that hit Alaska in 1964. Once daily, the museum runs a film that recounts the events of that day. It includes pictures and interviews of some of the survivors who still live here in Seward. We learned about the impact it had on the land, people and economy.
Good Friday, March 27, 1964 was like any other day in the bustling town of Seward. Seward, one of the few ice-free ports in south central Alaska was an active railroad terminus, fishing port and harbor. At Seward’s docks, oil-filled storage tanks waited for ships to load and move the oil. One survivor commented that the afternoon was unusually quite. There were no animals visible nor any birds singing. It was a curious calm. At 5:36 p.m. everything changed as the ground began to shake violently from a 9.3 earthquake. During the four minutes and thirty-eight seconds of the strongest quake to ever hit North American fissures opened, landslides moved great chunks of earth along the waterfront and harbor into the bay. Buildings and homes collapsed. The Standard Oil dock facility ruptured and spewed fuel everywhere. As the oil tanks overturned, they exploded in a chain reaction. Residents in areas outside and above the town thought the entire town was engulfed in flames.
A harbor slide called a submarine landslide generated a wall of water 30 feet high that was covered in burning oil that swallowed what remained of the harbor and dock area. In the process, another forty oil-filled railroad tank cars exploded in chain reaction. When the first wave subsided, people scrambled their way to higher ground in anticipation of tsunamis. Twenty-five minutes after the quake, the first tsunami hit with 40-foot waves moving at 100 mph. As the wave came in, it picked up the burning oil. As the water extinguished fires it ignited others. The last of the tsunamis left the town ten hours later leaving 13 people dead and Seward totally devastated.
Okay, okay you are awash with facts but just a couple of more things. The damage covered the areas from Kodiak in the Aleutian Islands to Anchorage. Kodiak was raised by 30 feet. Southeast of Anchorage areas dropped as much as 8 feet. The Port of Valdez suffered massive underwater landslide resulting in 30 deaths. And, tsunamis came ashore in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California with loss of life there. The quake was felt as far away as Texas and Florida where Lake Chekika saw water flow rates double from 3 million gallons to 6 million gallons a day. I had no idea.
The funny thing about earthquakes is the day before we went to the museum, I was walking from the bedroom into the living area when I felt the RV sway. I thought, what in the world? Then it shook violently for about two seconds -- enough that I staggered. As this happened, the news was on the TV and the commentator looked shocked and said, we are having an earthquake! As it turned out, it was a 6.3 quake. Not nearly as strong as the quake of ’64 but it scared my mule!
We spent a good bit of time dodging the rain. We walked around the city and explored the dock area and of course, ate. The seafood was exceptional. We spent a good afternoon at the Alaska SeaLife Center. It is dedicated to all the birds, fish and mammals that have and do inhabit Alaska. We decided that it would be fun to join the feeding session for the Pacific Giant Octopus. We went behind the scenes to a classroom setting to learn about these amazing creatures. We also visited the exhibits to learn about the ones that were on exhibit. Finally, we went behind the viewing area and touched and fed two different Octopuses.
As we approach August, we are nearing the “rainy” season. Most of the time, the rain is more a drizzle like the Northwest but there are times it is a downpour. While they keep photos from being crisp and clear, we have tried not to let the rain keep us from enjoying our trip. Here are a few to enjoy.
There are a series of murals all over Homer. This one is by the famous Hawaiian artist Robert Wyland. He painted these colorful murals in cities all over America. I love his work and have several of his prints and even one of his sculpturs.
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