HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia

Precipitation: Not applicable.
Source: The Vancouver Sun, April 1, 1963; The Citizen, March 23, 1964.
On March 21 at 4 a.m., a slide, the fifth this winter, came down in the Pine Pass, blocking the
Hart Highway at Mile 149, 120 mi. (192 km) north of Prince George. Heavy tractors worked for 10 hours in a –23 o F
(-30.6 o C) blizzard with winds of 25-35 mph (40-56 km/h) to open the slide. The slide, which measured a depth of 15
ft. (4.5 m) in places and blocked the highway for a distance of 600 ft. (180 m), was cleared on March 22 at 2 a.m. PGE
reopened their tracks on March 23. The Vancouver Sun reported it as a 300-ft. (90 m) snowslide.
Till March 23, the Pine Pass had recorded 583 in. (14.575 m) of snow. Snowbanks along the
highway were between 10-14 ft. (3-4.2 m) high.
March 27-29, 1964
Event type: Tsunami.
Precipitation: Not applicable.
Source: Prince Rupert Daily News, March 30, 1964; The Vancouver Sun, April 25, 1969; July 28, 1998; Times Colonist,
January 27, 2000; Wigen and White 1964; Coulter and Migliaccio 1966; Thompson 1981; Hay 1983 (pp. 17-20).
On Good Friday March 27, a 9.2 Richter scale mega-thrust earthquake, the second largest of the 20 th century,
struck the Alaskan coast. At Anchorage, the damage generally involved larger buildings and structures like bridges. The
quake triggered a large, about 75 million-m 3 , submarine slump near Valdez, Alaska. South of Anchorage, the ocean floor
dropped causing a local tsunami that destroyed waterfront facilities and the fishing fleet (Coulter and Migliaccio 1966).
Captain Merrill Stewart while aboard the 10,815-ton vessel Chena in Valdez harbour gave an eyewitness account of the
earthquake, “The Valdez piers started to collapse right away. There was a tremendous noise. The ship was laying over to
port. I had been in earthquakes before, but I knew right away that this was the worst one yet. The Chena rose about 30 feet (9
m) on an oncoming wave. The whole ship lifted and heeled to port about 50 degrees. Then it slammed down heavily on the
spot where the docks had disintegrated moments before. I saw people running – with no place to run to. It was just ghastly.
They were just engulfed by buildings, water, mud, and everything. The Chena dropped where the people had been. That was
what kept me awake for days. There was no sight of them. The ship stayed there momentarily. Then there was an ungodly
backroll to starboard. Then she came upright. Then we took another heavy roll to port.” (Hay 1983).
At Seward, Alaska, the greatest damage was attributed to foundation collapses along the entire waterfront due to
sliding and subsidence caused by successive sea level drawdowns. Near Kodiak City, Alaska a “bore” (a steep, fast moving,
breaking wave) developed, travelling at over 60 km/h at a height of over 10 m. Though a crab boat rode the foaming crest of
this wave and survived, the wave tore out docks and canneries in its path (Hay 1983).
The slide and concomitant tsunami were responsible for the loss of 30 lives, nearly 25% of all the casualties of the
earthquake. A tsunami resulting from this earthquake also caused severe damage on the west coast of Vancouver Island and
elsewhere. *1) It was historically the most destructive tsunami to hit British Columbia (Wigen and White 1964; Thompson
1981). The earthquake generated a series of sea waves that moved radially outward from the epicenter near the head of
Prince William Sound. The main tsunami swept southward across the Pacific Ocean at a velocity of about 830 km/h,
reaching Antarctica in only 16 hours. Within a few hours, the waves reached the outer coasts of the Queen Charlotte Islands
and Vancouver Island.
Six hours after the quake, a tidal surge damaged marine installations and broke logbooms in Prince Rupert. The
Department of Transport vessel Yaloa sank at her Digby Island moorings. The vessel being used to transport air service
personnel between the city and Digby Island was to be raised on March 30.
In Metlakatla Pass and Casey Cove, 8-9 million ft. 3 (226,400-254,700 m 3 ) in transit to the Columbia Cellulose
Company’s Watson Island mill cut loose. At Metlakatla, a float and pierhead was torn out. At Fairview Bay, extensive
damage occurred to the breakwater and part of the fishboat moorings. Pilings were ripped out at a float at the fishboat floats
and 500 ft. (150 m) of breakwater went afloat. The high water also took out the dolphins. Pilings uprooted by the tidal wave
bobbed at crazy angles. The submarine cable providing telephone service to Digby was put out of action. As a result of the
cable damage, on March 30 communications with Digby were limited to radio via Sandspit. The Prince Rupert airport and
homes on Digby Island were on emergency power.
At midnight, when Prince Rupert knew tidal waves could be expected from the earthquake, the water level was 16
ft. (4.8 m) above zero tide. One hour later, the tide reached a high of 26 ft. (7.8 m). It stayed at this level about 30 minutes
while at 2:15 a.m. it had dropped 10 ft. (3 m). Then the flow reversed itself and at 3 a.m. a second wave reached its crest at
21 ft. (6.3 m) above low water.
At 12:30 a.m., residents of Haida and Masset on the Queen Charlotte Islands moved to higher ground 5 mi. (8 km)
away at Deep Creek. There was, however, little damage from the tidal surge. The water rose about 5 ft. (1.5 m) above
normal, as at Prince Rupert. Part of the wharf used by Regal Air Services was washed up.
Apparently the quake was not felt on the Queen Charlotte Islands. Though Prince Rupert did not feel the quake
either, it was felt as near as Tyee and Kwinitsa on the Skeena River. At both places, houses shook. At Kwinitsa, a notorious
slide area, residents at first thought more slides were on the way.
----------------------------
85