Valdez has been unduly blessed by nature, but at 5:46pm on March 27, 1964, came payback time. Some 45 miles west of town and roughly 14 miles under the ground, a fault ruptured, triggering a magnitude 9.2 earthquake – the most powerful ever in American history. The land rippled as though it was water as Valdez slid into the harbor; tsunamis destroyed what was left. More than 30 people died.
After the quake, survivors labored to relocate and rebuild Valdez at its present site. But if you drive out on the Richardson Hwy you can see the ghostly and overgrown foundations of Old Valdez. The Earthquake Memorial , listing the names of the dead, is reached by turning off the highway onto the unsigned gravel road just south of Mark’s Repair. On the day of the quake, Valdez’ post office was here; in mere moments the ground sank so far that nowadays high tides reach the spot.
