Prince William Sound, Alaska 1964
A 9.2 magnitude earthquake struck Prince William Sound, in the state of Alaska, on March 27th, 1964. This location is 80 miles east of Anchorage and 40 miles west of Valdez.
According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, the powerful tremor wreaked destruction on coastal villages and took roughly 139 lives as a result of landslides, tsunamis, and soil liquefaction. Even though the quake lasted roughly 5 minutes (which is a lot!), the aftershocks persisted for three weeks.
The good news is that the number of deaths was lower compared to the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, but unfortunately, this one is classified as the strongest tremor ever recorded in North America.
