Bad Friday: The Great & Terrible 1964 Alaska Earthquake

On March 27, 1964, a magnitude 9.2 earthquake lasting more than five minutes rocked south central Alaska, leveling waterfronts, collapsing bridges, and crumbling landscapes. The most powerful quake in North American history and ensuing tidal waves left homes broken, children orphaned, and infrastructure decimated. Yet, from within the tragedy also came stories of heroism, community, and perseverance from Alaskans who rode the earth as it shifted more 14 feet, who floated atop roofs as the tsunami hit, and who searched through rubble and deserted homes amid devastation, heartbreak, and the beginning of recovery. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lew Freedman is a freelance writer and is the author of 56 books, many about Alaska, where he lived for 17 years and experienced numerous earthquakes. An award-winning journalist who is a graduate of Boston University with a masters degree from Alaska Pacific University, Freedman lives with his wife Debra in Indiana. Among his titles for Epicenter Press are Iditarod Classics, Fishing For A Laugh, Iditarod Dreams with musher DeeDee Jonrowe, and Yukon Quest, the history of the 1,000-mile race between Whitehorse, Yukon Territory and Fairbanks, Alaska