The tectonic forces that caused the earthquake were with the Pacific Plate sub ducting under Alaska. This pressure caused the earthquake to happen. After watching the video of Valdez I began to make connections to the hometown of my grandmother-Afognak village. The devastation from this earthquake caused a tsunami that destroyed her village. Just as Valdez relocated, the people from the village of Afognak relocated to the villages of Port Lions and Ouzinkie.
You can still walk through the old Village of Afognak and see many houses still standing. At one time I walked through to see the town store and post office in the lagoon.
People have used this experience to be more aware of earthquakes and tsunamis. In our town of Kodiak there are tsunami warning alarms throughout. Each and every Wednesday we have tests of these alarms at 2:00 p.m. to ensure they are working and ready to go. If the alarms go off at any other time, we know it’s business and not a testing time.
I have taught many lessons from the ATEP (Alaska Tsunami Education Program) to show my students about the 1964 Earthquake and Tsunami. We have viewed elder interviews and read stories that relate to this topic. I feel it is vital that our students know the importance of being educated about earthquakes and tsunamis---we do live on an island!!!
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