ABSTRACT
CONTENTS The Earthquake....................................................................................... 102 Emergency Response ............................................................................... 103 Disaster Recovery .................................................................................... 103
Federal Commission....................................................................... 103 State Commission .......................................................................... 104 Executive Director and Staff........................................................... 104 Alaskan Field Committee ............................................................... 105 Task Forces .................................................................................... 105
Policy Role .............................................................................................. 106 Recovery Operations ............................................................................... 107
Streamlined Operations.................................................................. 107 Expedited Schedules ....................................................................... 108
Clear Leadership............................................................................. 109 Open Operations ........................................................................... 109 Intergovernmental Management..................................................... 110 Qualified Personnel ........................................................................ 111 Congressional Relations.................................................................. 111 Oversight ....................................................................................... 112 Interdependency............................................................................. 112
Outcomes................................................................................................ 112
The Earthquake On March 27, 1964, Alaska was devastated by the strongest earthquake ever recorded in this continent, measuring 9.2 on the Richter scale and lasting an unusual four minutes. The ground either rose or sank over 5 feet in an area exceeding 50,000 square miles where about 60 percent of the population lived. The base of its economy, fishing, vanished temporarily with the small boat harbors now either too shallow to accommodate the boats or too deep to be protected by the submerged breakwaters. Fishing boats were destroyed and canneries were knocked out. Highways were impassable, bridges had buckled, and the terminus of the railroad had fallen into the sound. Water and sewerage systems were inoperable. Thousands of homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed, and few had earthquake insurance. The ever-present Alaskan problem of inflation threatened to soar out of control under the pressures of rebuilding.
