Stuff You Should Know

Snapshot · Stuff You Should Know

Alaska Earthquake of 1964

Explore episode Jul 2, 2026

Where this was said

Anchorage and the Business District That Sank 9 Feet

At 17:20 · chapter starts 16:40

The earthquake's effects in Anchorage — Alaska's largest city — were no less surreal. The earthquake triggered landslides across the city, and the entire business district sank between 9 and 20 feet in places. Photographs from Life Magazine document the eerie result: buildings on one side of a street sitting dramatically lower than those directly across from them, looking almost like a split-level movie set. Chuck and Josh note that the images take a moment to comprehend — the mind struggles to reconcile what it's seeing with its understanding of how streets and buildings are supposed to look. Josh likens it to those Magic Eye 3D posters, where you have to stare before the image resolves — only the image here is real-world catastrophe on an almost unimaginable scale.

Similar snapshots