Mommy’s House Broken

by Janie Evanson Henderson
(Anchorage, Alaska)

Destruction in Turnagain

Destruction in Turnagain

Our family was spared by the Grace of God!

We lived in a single-family house on a typical street in our neighborhood of “Turnagain By The Sea.”

My brother Ted (17 months old), our mom and I (almost 3 years old) had just come home from our cousin's 1st birthday party. Our dad was just home from work. Mom was changing Ted's diaper. Dad was reading the mail at the dining table. I was watching a TV show called “Romper Room.” From our big front plate-glass window, I could see the Chugach Mountains beyond our neighbors' homes. The sky was blue, and the mountains were covered in snow.

It was March 27, 1964. 5:36pm. There was still snow on the ground. We had about an hour before sunset.

All of a sudden, there was a shake-enough to make the chandelier begin to swing! My daddy pointed to the light fixture and said, “Look, Janie Lou, it's an earthquake!” I looked. The light was swinging. The shaking kept going. My dad picked me up and called to my mom, “Come here, Clara!” She came with Teddy, who was only half-way diapered.

Dad ushered us into the hallway (it was supposed to be safer there).

Shaking from the earthquake continued to increase in intensity. The hallway walls began to squeeze together, like in a fun house at a carnival. Dad said, “It's not safe here” and took us to the kitchen.

The kitchen had big windows that looked out onto our back garden. I could see our swing set slamming side-to-side, not to and fro!

And the tall birch trees – Oh my goodness! Their tops were touching the ground, first on one side next to their trunks and then the other! It was completely surreal – it just wasn't what trees and swing sets did.

While all that was going on outside, we were still in the kitchen and the house was being lifted and tilted so much that the refrigerator moved out of its spot and slid across the room. Then it slid back into its spot again several times… The final time, the fridge door opened and about half a dozen oranges tumbled out and onto the floor.

Thump thump thump…the sound of oranges falling upon the floor always takes me back to our kitchen in the house from before the earthquake, weird, isn't it?

Then the ceiling began to crumble and fall in. Our parents shielded Ted and me from the debris with their bodies. Dad said that it was time to move and ushered us back into the living room.

The living room was a shambles. The big console TV/Stereo had tipped over, and our furniture was all over the place. The floor joists began buckling. Then the wall-to-wall carpet tore like tissue paper. Silty sand was boiling up through the broken floor, and as we looked out the big plate-glass windows, there was nothing to see but the inside of the earth. I thought we were being swallowed up.

When the shaking had finally stopped, Daddy said, “Well, at least we are all together” and prayed thanking God for that. Just as he prayed, the roof joists broke open, and we could see the sky. Daddy said: “That's our way out!” But mom's foot was trapped in the floor joists… My dad told her “you're coming with me, foot or no foot”. He then put me and Ted onto the sand pile in the middle of the living room, yanking mom hard. He lifted her up, and pushed her through the hole in the ceiling.

Dad then handed me and my little brother to my mom.

Pretty soon, all four of us were sitting on the roof of what was left of our home. Mom still had her foot. Ted had a diaper pinhole in his bum. I had a black eye and Dad was bruised. But we were alive.

Looking towards what had been our front yard, we couldn't see the Chugach Mountains, nor our neighbors' houses anymore… What we could see was the face of a 70-foot cliff with utility pipes, and cables sticking out at the top of the cliff, with the cement or asphalt of the road surfacing jutting out above.

Our neighbors from across the street appeared at the top of the cliff, and somehow they got us up onto our street.

Afterward, all of us were looking at what was left of our neighborhood--trying to account for all the neighbors.

Unfortunately, not everybody was spared on our street.

Our neighbors, the Meads, lost their oldest & youngest sons – Perry (12 years old) and Merrell (2 years old). Beyond sad.

I wasn't too big, but as I was in my daddy's arms, and looking out over what is now Earthquake Park.

I got my dad's attention and I told him, “Daddy, mommy's house broken!” He looked at me and said, “Don't worry, I'll build mommy a new house.” And he did.

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Amazing Story
by: Lin S

Thank you for your amazing account of your 1964 earthquake experience.

Perry Mead was in my 4th grade class at Turnagain.

I was downtown with my dad and sister when the quake struck. We were at the 4th Avenue theater that afternoon. I witnessed the JC Penney building coming apart. Harrowing for sure.

Glad you and your family survived.

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Sorry About the Boys
by: Danny

I remember reading about the boys in that Time Life Magazine "Earthquake" and the 12-year-old actually was a hero.

I mean he knew what was up and got his first two siblings out, raced back to get his baby brother.

That sucked once the earth gave way, and they fell.

I bet the two sitting in that safe spot where their brother put them have not forgotten that scene at all.

Still sad when I think about reading that part in that book!

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My 1964 Valdez Earthquake Experience
by: Marilee

Thanks for sharing your story.

I'm always interested in hearing the experiences others had that day.

I was in Valdez, 15 years old. The big difference for us was the tidal wave that barreled down on us at the same time. Well, it barreled into Valdez, but we were far enough away that it didn't touch us, but we could see it nonetheless, and the BOTTOM of the freighter that was at the dock, propeller whirling around.

We were sure we were goners when we saw the wave, but a huge crack opened and sucked that water in.

We lost so many people that day. It isn't something one ever forgets or gets over. Some noises still make my heart pause.

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A 1964 Alaska Earthquake Survivor
by: Susan Sanders

I so enjoyed reading your story.

I was 17 and rode out the 1964 earthquake near Glennallen, where I was a senior in high school.

Isn’t it amazing that we can all recall exactly where we were and what we were doing, down to the last detail, when the earth started shaking that day?

One of my vivid recollections is watching the trees sway so violently from side to side, and the frozen ground cracking beneath us when it got so bad that we went outside. I have never heard anyone else mention the trees.

A Note from Anchorage Memories

Susan - Your comment about the trees is very interesting. I was in Anchorage and outside when the earthquake hit. I was near a forest and I vividly remember how the trees were swaying violently, like the waves in the ocean.

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Gripping 1964 Alaska Earthquake Story
by: Mike

Wow -

What an amazing story of survival. Your family went through a lot as you rode out the quake on Good Friday. And it is sad that those two boys lost their lives.

Thank you for sharing your story for all our website visitors.

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