On this day in 1964, a 9.2 earthquake struck S.C. Ak.

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When the Great Alaska Earthquake convulsed the south-central region of that vast state on March 27, 1964, the energy released by the upheaval — the largest quake in recorded North American history — was, LIFE magazine reported, “400 times the total [energy] of all nuclear bombs ever exploded” until that time. The megathrust event unleashed a colossal 200,000 megatons of energy, destroying buildings and infrastructure in Anchorage and far beyond; raising the land as much as 30 feet in some places; and sparking a major underwater landslide in Prince William Sound, which killed scores of people when the resulting waves slammed into Port Valdez.

When all was said and done, the 9.2-magnitude quake — which struck around 5:30 in the evening on Good Friday — and its many powerful aftershocks caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage; killed more than 130 people (including more than a dozen tsunami-related deaths in Oregon and California) and; in ways literal and figurative, forever altered the Alaskan landscape in places like Anchorage, Seward and Valdez.

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You can still see areas where the land uplifted or subsided in S. Central Ak. It created a couple of ghost towns, and Valdez had to be totally relocated 4 miles away. I've been in a 7.9 quake and can't imagine how strong a 9.2 must be. Particularly one that lasts for 5 minutes.