1 00:00:01,480 --> 00:00:09,200 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 2: Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, and there's 3 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 2: Chuck and Jerry's here too, And this is Stuff you 4 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 2: should Know about earthquakes in Alaska in nineteen sixty four. 5 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:23,880 Speaker 2: I'm going to talk like this, Oh the rest of 6 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:25,840 Speaker 2: the podcast. What do you think? 7 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:30,000 Speaker 1: I think that sixty percent of the people just stop listening. 8 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 2: Well, they are going to be sorry, because this is 9 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:35,760 Speaker 2: going to be an interesting episode. 10 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:39,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, this is you know, I had no idea how 11 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:45,159 Speaker 1: earthquake prone Alaska is was and is until doing this 12 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:45,839 Speaker 1: kind of research. 13 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:49,160 Speaker 2: Oh. I was raised on that knowledge. My family talked 14 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 2: about it a lot. 15 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:52,879 Speaker 1: No comment in Toledo. 16 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:56,320 Speaker 2: Hey, Chuck, I have a question. Will you ask me 17 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:59,360 Speaker 2: the first time I was ever in an earthquake or 18 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:00,520 Speaker 2: ever felt in earthquake? 19 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: When's the first time you ever felt to earthquake? 20 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 2: Yesterday? Chuck? Will you ask me a follow up question? 21 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 2: Ask what I was reading while I experienced that first earthquake? 22 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:15,039 Speaker 1: Well, where were you and what were you reading? 23 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 2: I was reading this article about Alaska earth the Alaska 24 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 2: earthquake of nineteen sixty four, and I was at home. 25 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 1: Wow, I didn't know that you guys felt a trimmer. 26 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 2: There was one in Cuba, like a six point eight, 27 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 2: and I felt it in Central Florida, plain a day. 28 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 1: Wow, I've never I lived in LA for five years 29 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: and I never felt a single anything. 30 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:39,520 Speaker 2: Yeah. I pretty much assumed I would go the rest 31 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:43,279 Speaker 2: of my life with that feeling an earthquake, and nope, nope. 32 00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 2: Cuba had other ideas. 33 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:49,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I mean after reading about how like far away, 34 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 1: Like there's some pretty startling stuff in this episode, like 35 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:56,840 Speaker 1: as far as how far away could feel things, and 36 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 1: like the upset that it caused like around the world, 37 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:01,560 Speaker 1: it's nuts. 38 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, a lot of people were upset about this for sure. 39 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:07,600 Speaker 1: All Right, Well, we're talking about the Good Friday earthquake 40 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 1: of nineteen sixty four in Alaska, which at the time 41 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:16,800 Speaker 1: was the biggest, well the second largest ever in the 42 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: world that they had recorded at nine point two, just 43 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: behind the nine point five that hit Chile in nineteen sixty. Yeah, 44 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:28,640 Speaker 1: and considering the devastation that happened in Alaska, and probably 45 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 1: only because it happened in Alaska, it only killed one 46 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 1: hundred and thirty one people, which is a lot. But 47 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 1: I think the earthquake itself in Alaska. How many people 48 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: It's like fifteen people. 49 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:44,920 Speaker 2: Maybe, yeah, I think there was actually in the whole 50 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:45,840 Speaker 2: state something like. 51 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:48,360 Speaker 1: No, no, no, I'm saying how many people it killed? 52 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:50,120 Speaker 2: Was only oh oh, sorry, I thought you're saying how 53 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:51,799 Speaker 2: many people lived in Alaska. 54 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:54,840 Speaker 1: No, just like the literal earthquake of people in Alaska. 55 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 2: I think it was like, yeah, fifteen or sixteen people. 56 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:00,839 Speaker 2: That was it from the actual earthquake. Yeah, I wonder 57 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 2: why he laughed. Yeah, that was why, because I thought 58 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 2: you were making a joke and I thought it was hilarious. 59 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:08,320 Speaker 1: So let's get to today. 60 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 2: Well, there was one other big thing about this earthquake 61 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:13,640 Speaker 2: besides just the massiveness. I mean, nine point five that 62 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:16,360 Speaker 2: is awfully close to as high as you can go 63 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 2: on the Richter scale. 64 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:19,760 Speaker 1: Right, yeah, nine point two was this one? Yeah? 65 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:22,160 Speaker 2: Nine point two? Sorry, Chili was the nine point five 66 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:26,800 Speaker 2: Still nothing to sneeze at, right, second largest earthquake on record. 67 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 2: One of the other reasons that it's important or significant 68 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:33,920 Speaker 2: is because it basically opened up the door for seismology 69 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 2: and our understanding of earthquakes and tsunamis and basically everything 70 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 2: we know about those things today. Kind of kicked off 71 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 2: with this nineteen sixty four earthquake because we were able 72 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 2: to like go study it. It happened at just the 73 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:48,560 Speaker 2: right time in a. 74 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 1: Sense, Yeah, for sure. And this was a mega thrust earthquake. 75 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: And as it turns out, the most destructive kind of 76 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,280 Speaker 1: earthquake that the world knows is the mega thrust. Out 77 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:03,360 Speaker 1: of the ten of the biggest earthquakes ever recorded have 78 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 1: been mega thrust. And that is where and you know, 79 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:09,520 Speaker 1: we've talked about this in the Earthquakes episode as well 80 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:14,120 Speaker 1: as other ones, probably the Japanese tsunami one as well. Sure, 81 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 1: but this mega thrust earthquake is what happens when you 82 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 1: have two tectonic plates hitting one another, and the case 83 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 1: of the mega thrust, the heavier one slides below the 84 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:31,279 Speaker 1: lighter one, and that heavier plate just dives into the mantle. 85 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:33,680 Speaker 1: It's you know, we talked about subduction a lot, but 86 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:36,839 Speaker 1: it subduces. 87 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:39,719 Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, It's subdued by the top one, right, And 88 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 2: as it goes further and further in like the whole 89 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:46,440 Speaker 2: Earth's crust gets recycled over incredible spans of time. The 90 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,720 Speaker 2: problem is what causes a megathrust earthquake is that in 91 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:55,560 Speaker 2: some places that subdued plate doesn't go down. It locks 92 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:59,279 Speaker 2: with the plate on top when they converge, and they 93 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:02,800 Speaker 2: just press, impressed and press and press, and then eventually 94 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 2: one of them is going to give. It's like a 95 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:08,000 Speaker 2: game of chicken or something like that. And when they give, 96 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:11,680 Speaker 2: it just slips, and it slips really quickly, and the entire, 97 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 2: an entire region of Earth suddenly lurches forward like fifty feet. 98 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:20,480 Speaker 2: And when that happens, that's where you get like ten 99 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:24,320 Speaker 2: out of the ten most powerful earthquakes. That's where they 100 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:26,880 Speaker 2: come from. They're all mega thrust earthquakes, and that's how 101 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:27,560 Speaker 2: they're produced. 102 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:31,880 Speaker 1: That's right. The one in sixty four in Alaska was 103 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 1: at the Alaska Aleutian Subduction Zone, and that's where the 104 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,920 Speaker 1: plates here in North America side over the Pacific plates 105 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:44,359 Speaker 1: is where they meet one another. And I think it 106 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:47,600 Speaker 1: runs from the Gulf of Alaska, and as we'll see, 107 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 1: the epicenter was kind of right there on the waterfront almost, 108 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:56,239 Speaker 1: but it runs along the Gulf of Alaska to Russia's 109 00:05:56,279 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 1: Kamchatka Peninsula. 110 00:05:58,320 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 2: Which is an island in Russia. 111 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: That's right. 112 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:05,599 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's basically like the worst place to live. But 113 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 2: at the time when people were settling along Alaska seward 114 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 2: and what was the other big city that was affected 115 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:17,599 Speaker 2: by this anchorage and then a bunch of other slightly 116 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:21,279 Speaker 2: smaller cities, they didn't know that the subduction zone existed. 117 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:23,160 Speaker 2: It's nothing you can walk up to and point to. 118 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 2: This thing exists under the oceans off shore. So they 119 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:29,479 Speaker 2: didn't know. But they found out in a big way 120 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:34,160 Speaker 2: after this earthquake that oh, yeah, actually there's a subduction zone. 121 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 2: And as a matter of fact, the whole theory of 122 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:38,479 Speaker 2: plate tectonics is correct. This was another thing that it 123 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:39,440 Speaker 2: proved or showed. 124 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:43,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, so you know, you said that that can happen 125 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:46,039 Speaker 1: really quickly. That's kind of what happens with these mega 126 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:50,240 Speaker 1: thrust earthquakes and why they're so kind of spectacular is 127 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:52,800 Speaker 1: that the speed at which it happens. And then in 128 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:56,720 Speaker 1: this case, just like how much was was moving. They 129 00:06:56,880 --> 00:06:59,719 Speaker 1: said that the plates moved they estimate between thirty to 130 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:03,520 Speaker 1: six defeat kind of all at the same time, and 131 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:07,719 Speaker 1: that the area that moved, this is staggering, was five 132 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 1: hundred miles by one hundred and twenty five. 133 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:14,040 Speaker 2: Miles suddenly moved sixty feet like in seconds. 134 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:18,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's just yeah, it's hard to believe, right. 135 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 2: And so again, like this five hundred by one hundred 136 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:28,280 Speaker 2: and twenty five mile chunk Anchorage, Valdez, sorry, Valdez, Seward 137 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:31,480 Speaker 2: and a bunch of other towns are like on that 138 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:35,200 Speaker 2: chunk of land that suddenly lurched forward. So not only 139 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:39,400 Speaker 2: did the land lurch, this earthquake just had all sorts 140 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:43,880 Speaker 2: of crazy effects, in part because the earthquake itself, nine 141 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:49,400 Speaker 2: point two, lasted for like four minutes. Yeah, four minutes 142 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 2: of a nine point two earthquake sounds terrifying and crazy destructive. 143 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:57,280 Speaker 1: Yeah. This was on March twenty seventh of that year, 144 00:07:57,920 --> 00:07:59,880 Speaker 1: at about five thirty six pm is when it kicked 145 00:07:59,880 --> 00:08:02,800 Speaker 1: out off. And you know when I talked about like 146 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:06,160 Speaker 1: how far reaching it was. Here are some like pretty 147 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:11,360 Speaker 1: startling examples. There were water level changes registered across every 148 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:15,920 Speaker 1: United State state except for Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Delaware. 149 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:19,800 Speaker 1: And when you see things like a well or a 150 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 1: pond slashing back and forth, like water that doesn't normally 151 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:28,400 Speaker 1: move around is being moved, those are called seashwaves. And 152 00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:32,320 Speaker 1: those were reported as far away as Australia and South Africa. 153 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:35,880 Speaker 2: Yeah, can't you see some little Australian can go a 154 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:37,959 Speaker 2: paw the pond's moving. 155 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 1: It's a good Australian kid. 156 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, I thought so too. So those what'd you call 157 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:45,080 Speaker 2: them seiche waves? 158 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:48,000 Speaker 1: I called them siashwaves, seashwaves. 159 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:53,040 Speaker 2: Okay, So in the Gulf, the Gulf of Mexico, fishing 160 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:57,400 Speaker 2: boats sank off Louisiana because those seishewaves slashing back and 161 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:00,080 Speaker 2: forth in the Gulf of Mexico was so potent so 162 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:02,800 Speaker 2: that it swamped some boats and sank them in the 163 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:06,080 Speaker 2: Gulf of Mexico, which is nowhere near Alaska. 164 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:09,600 Speaker 1: Yeah, it swayed the space needle. And by the way, 165 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 1: you maybe had been reading too much of German on 166 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:14,160 Speaker 1: the show, because I think it probably would be siche 167 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:14,640 Speaker 1: in German. 168 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, something happened my brain like just ticked into just 169 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:22,520 Speaker 2: enough German that I mispronounced stuff a lot. 170 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:25,280 Speaker 1: Now, well I may be wrong too, but because maybe 171 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:26,600 Speaker 1: it's a German word, I have no idea. 172 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:28,880 Speaker 2: Well, let's spell it for everybody and then the listeners 173 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:31,280 Speaker 2: can make up for themselves how to pronounce it, shall we. 174 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:34,120 Speaker 2: I'll take the first letter, you take the second. We'll 175 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:35,079 Speaker 2: just alternate, like that. 176 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:39,959 Speaker 1: Okay, s E C H. 177 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:41,440 Speaker 2: E E E waves. 178 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:45,120 Speaker 1: Just want to get the end. Yeah, that thing rocked 179 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:47,520 Speaker 1: the space Needle, which is about a thousand miles away. 180 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:53,280 Speaker 1: And they did, you know, geological surveys afterward. They showed 181 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:56,720 Speaker 1: some parts of the coast were close to forty feet 182 00:09:56,760 --> 00:09:59,720 Speaker 1: higher than they used to be. Other parts were, you know, 183 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:01,720 Speaker 1: a to eight feet lower than they used to be. 184 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 1: It literally changed the coastline of Alaska as much as 185 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 1: fifty feet in some parts. And this is like, you know, 186 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 1: this is the kind of thing you think of when 187 00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:13,800 Speaker 1: you think of an earthquake, like in a movie, Like 188 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:17,240 Speaker 1: you know, train tracks getting curled up, and telephone lines 189 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:20,319 Speaker 1: snapping like toothpicks, and cars being sucked into the earth. 190 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:23,120 Speaker 2: This is the kind of thing that presents a challenge 191 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:23,720 Speaker 2: to the rock. 192 00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:27,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, only he could save us, exactly. 193 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:30,320 Speaker 2: Unfortunately he was just a little tike if he was 194 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:32,800 Speaker 2: even born at this time, so he couldn't help anybody. 195 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:36,720 Speaker 2: One of the things that just fascinates me is that 196 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:40,360 Speaker 2: there were entire swaths of forests on the coastline that 197 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:45,160 Speaker 2: dropped into the ocean, not like oh, the lands caving 198 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:48,000 Speaker 2: in and all these these trees are like falling over 199 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:53,319 Speaker 2: down into the ocean. The entire stretch of forest still 200 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:57,080 Speaker 2: standing upright, just plunged downward into the ocean and was 201 00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:00,880 Speaker 2: covered by the water. It just dropped. And that to 202 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:05,360 Speaker 2: me just is crazy fascinating. I like anything underwater I 203 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:08,720 Speaker 2: find fascinating, but also the idea of that happening like 204 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:11,840 Speaker 2: that suddenly is just mind boggling to me. 205 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:13,600 Speaker 1: Anything underwater's fascinating. 206 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:17,959 Speaker 2: Anything that's not supposed to be underwater that is underwater. 207 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:18,320 Speaker 1: Ah. 208 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:20,920 Speaker 2: Okay, have you seen the Drowned House? 209 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:23,640 Speaker 1: I don't think so. 210 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:27,440 Speaker 2: It's like a found footage, but it's actually good found footage. 211 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,720 Speaker 2: It's an indie film where these scuba divers are exploring 212 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:34,719 Speaker 2: this house that was like at the bottom of a reservoir, 213 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:38,320 Speaker 2: so it's now underwater, and just that alone is awesome, 214 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:39,680 Speaker 2: But the plot's pretty cool too. 215 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:43,600 Speaker 1: So you're going deep with your horror. 216 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:47,920 Speaker 2: I mean, there's just so much bad horror out there 217 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:49,520 Speaker 2: that you really have to hunt. 218 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:53,559 Speaker 1: Yeah, and I didn't mean that to be a pun. 219 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:57,200 Speaker 2: By the way, going deep with the horror, yeah underwater? 220 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:01,520 Speaker 2: Oh oh yeah, German part of me, I'm taking everything 221 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:04,160 Speaker 2: quite literally. There's no such thing as anything funny. 222 00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:08,480 Speaker 1: You know, we're going to talk a lot about the 223 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:12,080 Speaker 1: effects of the water, because again it's some pretty like 224 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:16,560 Speaker 1: devastating and remarkable stuff happened. I was right, It was 225 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:19,120 Speaker 1: only about fifteen people were killed from the actual earthquake. 226 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:21,800 Speaker 1: Most of the people died in the tsunamis that followed, right. 227 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:24,959 Speaker 1: There was one big one and a lot of smaller ones. 228 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:28,280 Speaker 1: I think the big one reached a wave reached a 229 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:32,120 Speaker 1: height of about two hundred feet, which is incredible to 230 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:36,439 Speaker 1: think about it. You know, as far south as California, 231 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:41,000 Speaker 1: like twelve people died in California from an earthquake that 232 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:42,160 Speaker 1: happened in Alaska. 233 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:46,199 Speaker 2: Yeah, I went southward. It also went westward, went right 234 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:49,640 Speaker 2: past Hawaii all the way to Japan. It it kind 235 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:51,840 Speaker 2: of petered out by the time it hit Japan. But 236 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:54,520 Speaker 2: I mean, like that's a long way for a single 237 00:12:54,559 --> 00:12:58,560 Speaker 2: wave to travel. I mean two hundred feet that's just nuts. 238 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:00,920 Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, this is a big wave. 239 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:05,200 Speaker 2: It is. It's a giant So with a tsunami, though, 240 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:08,880 Speaker 2: you have a really long time, you kind of have 241 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:11,520 Speaker 2: some warning after an earthquake, you can expect if you're 242 00:13:11,559 --> 00:13:14,360 Speaker 2: along the coast that a tsunami is probably coming, so 243 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:17,880 Speaker 2: you can get away from that. The problem was is 244 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:20,680 Speaker 2: that all sorts of different towns and communities along the 245 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:24,880 Speaker 2: coast got swamped like almost immediately with tsunamis, not two 246 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:27,719 Speaker 2: hundred foot tsunamis, but still enough to like reck an 247 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:31,720 Speaker 2: entire town. And that was another thing that kind of 248 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:34,720 Speaker 2: the science finally got to the bottom of. But in 249 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:37,920 Speaker 2: some of these tsunamis, like for example, there's a village 250 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:42,800 Speaker 2: called Chenega, and four minutes after the earthquake, it just 251 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:46,199 Speaker 2: got washed away. There were sixty eight people who live there, 252 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:48,840 Speaker 2: twenty three of them died and the only thing that 253 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 2: survived as far as their buildings are concerned, was the schoolhouse, 254 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:55,439 Speaker 2: which was built on higher ground one hundred feet above 255 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:58,400 Speaker 2: sea level. So like everything else in the town was 256 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:02,040 Speaker 2: just gone thanks to a tsunami that hit like lightning fast. 257 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:07,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, I've got one for everyone here. Valdis, at Port Valdiz, 258 00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:10,880 Speaker 1: they were, you know, everything kind of along the coastline. 259 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:14,200 Speaker 1: There was obviously swept into the ocean. Thirty two people 260 00:14:14,400 --> 00:14:20,440 Speaker 1: very sadly passed in Valdiese and it ended up catching 261 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:24,240 Speaker 1: on fire, the oil tankers and stuff that were there, 262 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 1: and then those were brought out to see so like 263 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:30,960 Speaker 1: you talk about a movie like oil tankers on fire 264 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:34,040 Speaker 1: in a wave being transported across the ocean. 265 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:36,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure. And then one of the other problems 266 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:39,560 Speaker 2: with Port Valdez was that the town was built on 267 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:43,280 Speaker 2: sand and gravel, not bedrock. And one of the things 268 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:47,400 Speaker 2: about Omega Thrust earthquake is it liquefies the soil. It 269 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:51,320 Speaker 2: turns what seemed to be totally solid ground into essentially 270 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:54,840 Speaker 2: a liquid and it can swallow stuff up like almost immediately. 271 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:58,000 Speaker 2: So huge parts of that town were also swallowed up 272 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:00,640 Speaker 2: by the earth all of a sudden, like this is 273 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:03,840 Speaker 2: Biblical end Times kind of stuff. You know. 274 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:07,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know, at the risk of just going 275 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:10,720 Speaker 1: on and on, I got one more, I think, and 276 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:12,440 Speaker 1: then we can probably take a break. But if you're 277 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:16,240 Speaker 1: talking about Anchorage, you know, the biggest city there that 278 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:18,960 Speaker 1: got you know, an Alaska at least that got hit. 279 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:22,680 Speaker 1: There was a landslide because it also triggered landslides. We 280 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:26,200 Speaker 1: should have mentioned that, and the entire business district sank 281 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:30,280 Speaker 1: about nine feet. There were some building collapses, to be sure, 282 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:33,360 Speaker 1: but others just look kind of like the forest just dropped, 283 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:37,240 Speaker 1: like you know, anywhere from nine to twenty feet below 284 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:39,000 Speaker 1: ones that were just on the other side of the street. 285 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:40,880 Speaker 2: Did you see photos of that? 286 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:43,400 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, Life magazine has a I mean there's a 287 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:46,520 Speaker 1: ton of good photos online that are just kind of 288 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 1: hard to wrap your head around, like what you're looking 289 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:49,240 Speaker 1: at sometimes. 290 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, it takes a section for sure, like one of 291 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:55,480 Speaker 2: those three d I posters, but with earthquake stuff instead. 292 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:57,200 Speaker 1: We did a whole episode on those. 293 00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:00,120 Speaker 2: We did, and if I remember correctly, that was pretty interesting. 294 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:01,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, the magic I think. 295 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:05,320 Speaker 2: You want to take that break you mentioned. 296 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:07,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, we'll take a break and talk about sort of 297 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:09,000 Speaker 1: what happened after right after this. 298 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:37,440 Speaker 2: So four minutes later, the earthquake stops, but there's still tsunamis, 299 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:41,080 Speaker 2: there's fires at sea, even like whole towns of collapse, 300 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:43,840 Speaker 2: Like it takes a little while for the dust to 301 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:49,040 Speaker 2: finally settle. When it does, I think, like the next day, 302 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:52,240 Speaker 2: Lyndon Johnson, who was president at the time, said, Alaska 303 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:56,760 Speaker 2: as a whole is a major disaster area. Remember I said, 304 00:16:56,760 --> 00:17:00,240 Speaker 2: like telephone poles snapped and there were no roads anymore 305 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:05,359 Speaker 2: or railroads. That meant that people couldn't communicate with the 306 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:08,520 Speaker 2: outside world. So if you had family and friends outside 307 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:11,800 Speaker 2: of Alaska and they heard about this earthquake, they couldn't 308 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:13,320 Speaker 2: get in touch with you, and you couldn't get in 309 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:15,280 Speaker 2: touch with them. So it was a very hairy time 310 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:18,040 Speaker 2: for a lot of people until they could find out 311 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:20,520 Speaker 2: whether their loved ones were alive or not. And I 312 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:23,320 Speaker 2: think that damage is something like three billion dollars in 313 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:27,119 Speaker 2: today's dollars. Yeah, which again, like this is a state 314 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:29,280 Speaker 2: with like a population of I think two hundred and 315 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:32,320 Speaker 2: fifty thousand people at the time, Like it was not 316 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:37,560 Speaker 2: populated at all, but that's how much damage that earthquake did. 317 00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:41,520 Speaker 1: Still, Yeah, they had to you know, I mentioned earlier 318 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:43,960 Speaker 1: that it changed the shape of Alaska and its coastline. 319 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:47,119 Speaker 1: It was so drastic that they had to kind of 320 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:51,639 Speaker 1: redraw the shipping lanes and say like hey, like you 321 00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:54,360 Speaker 1: can't go that way anymore because of this, and they 322 00:17:54,359 --> 00:17:57,080 Speaker 1: had to kind of, you know, redraw all of that area. 323 00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:01,960 Speaker 1: Some people were, you know, Alaska strong, so we're not leaving. 324 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:04,880 Speaker 1: We're gonna build on top of where we were. Other 325 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:06,679 Speaker 1: people said, you know what, I'm going to go higher. 326 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:12,680 Speaker 1: Entire towns were gone and then popped up in other places, 327 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:16,600 Speaker 1: and Valdis is a great example because the Army Corps 328 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:19,200 Speaker 1: of Engineers came in and said, you know, Josh Clark 329 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:21,000 Speaker 1: one day will say that this was built on a 330 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:24,320 Speaker 1: gravel foundation, so you shouldn't even rebuild there. And there 331 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:26,880 Speaker 1: were only about five hundred, you know, plus or minus 332 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:29,679 Speaker 1: people living there at the time, and they said, you 333 00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:32,159 Speaker 1: got three years to get out of here. We got 334 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:35,400 Speaker 1: a new Valdis for you about four miles away, and 335 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:39,960 Speaker 1: that's generally what happened. People left set up the new 336 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:43,040 Speaker 1: town of Valdis, which now has close to four thousand people, 337 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:46,720 Speaker 1: and they burned the rest of what was there down 338 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:48,679 Speaker 1: just to make sure that people didn't kind of like 339 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:50,120 Speaker 1: set up and squat there. 340 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:52,959 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's kind of cool. You can go hike the 341 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:57,160 Speaker 2: old Valdis town. There's an intersection still of the two 342 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:00,280 Speaker 2: main drags, and I think, like there's the street sign 343 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:03,480 Speaker 2: up still and then they have plaques showing what used 344 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:05,400 Speaker 2: to be where. It looks like a pretty cool hike. 345 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:07,560 Speaker 1: Yeah. 346 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:12,080 Speaker 2: So, Chuck, we talked about how this kind of changed science. 347 00:19:12,119 --> 00:19:14,440 Speaker 2: I think we should really kind of expand on that 348 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:17,359 Speaker 2: because it really changed science. Chuck. 349 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:20,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know, this next part we need to 350 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:24,840 Speaker 1: think specifically, I think Livia used a Smithsonian Magazine article 351 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:28,399 Speaker 1: by Christian Elliott for this part. So big thanks to 352 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:31,879 Speaker 1: Christian Elliot for all the hard work and Livia so 353 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:34,920 Speaker 1: well of course in Libya always she's our north star 354 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:39,159 Speaker 1: after all. But you know, we've already kind of said it, 355 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:42,919 Speaker 1: but I guess more specifically we should say that, you know, 356 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:46,160 Speaker 1: at this time in nineteen sixty four, the idea of 357 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:51,480 Speaker 1: what we knew about plate tectonics was not you know, entrenched, 358 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:53,359 Speaker 1: Like people kind of had a good idea of what 359 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:55,920 Speaker 1: they thought was going on for a long time. People 360 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:58,760 Speaker 1: had been checking out maps and saying like, hey, I 361 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:02,680 Speaker 1: think that this used to be connected right here, and 362 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:05,200 Speaker 1: maybe things stripped it apart, but it was still sort 363 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:09,439 Speaker 1: of being actively debated at the time, and this really 364 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:12,960 Speaker 1: kind of like laid bare, like, yeah, this is not 365 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:14,200 Speaker 1: a hypothesis anymore. 366 00:20:15,119 --> 00:20:17,879 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, it's crazy to think that plate tectonics 367 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:21,480 Speaker 2: wasn't accepted until the sixties, but that's that's exactly how 368 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:24,159 Speaker 2: it was. So this was such a massive earthquake, it 369 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:29,080 Speaker 2: just presented all sorts of different places where evidence kind 370 00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:31,680 Speaker 2: of came along that said, Okay, explain this, what explains 371 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:34,160 Speaker 2: this what explains that? And it turns out that plate 372 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:39,160 Speaker 2: tectonics essentially was the only theory that fit, you know, 373 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:42,280 Speaker 2: that explained how the earth went up here, or how 374 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:45,040 Speaker 2: it sunk here, or how it moved fifty feet onto 375 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:48,760 Speaker 2: the sea here, or why this you know, this town 376 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:51,640 Speaker 2: just got swallowed up. All of this could be explained 377 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:55,119 Speaker 2: by plate tectonics and not the other rival theories. I 378 00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:59,520 Speaker 2: think the the other rival theory was that earthquakes were 379 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:03,480 Speaker 2: God's will, and play tectonics just explains it better. 380 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:08,239 Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. This is obviously a gold mine for 381 00:21:08,359 --> 00:21:12,120 Speaker 1: the US Geological Survey. So they got people to Alaska 382 00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:15,960 Speaker 1: like really quick, and you know, got out all their 383 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:21,720 Speaker 1: do hickeys and whirley gigs and measuring tape, and we're like, hey, 384 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:25,280 Speaker 1: we can really learn a lot from this stuff. You know, 385 00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:27,440 Speaker 1: people are being taken care of, so now we need 386 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:32,120 Speaker 1: to kind of figure out what happens moving forward. One 387 00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:35,040 Speaker 1: of the interesting things they found, and some of the 388 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:38,520 Speaker 1: stuff gets really really interesting. I think that popped up especially. 389 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:42,760 Speaker 1: I'll just tease out the fungus that's coming among us soon. 390 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:43,480 Speaker 2: Nice. 391 00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:46,720 Speaker 1: But they looked at those forests that you were talking 392 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:50,560 Speaker 1: about that sunk below the ocean they you know, filled 393 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:52,679 Speaker 1: up with like sediment and seawater and stuff. And they 394 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:55,280 Speaker 1: were digging around down there trying to just study it. 395 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:57,520 Speaker 1: And they kept digging and they said, you know what, 396 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:01,760 Speaker 1: there's other like below this stuff. We're finding older land plants. 397 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:06,880 Speaker 1: And so this has happened before, you guys, like probably 398 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:10,159 Speaker 1: more than several times over the last like thousands or 399 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:12,600 Speaker 1: millions of years, and it's gonna happen again. 400 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:15,720 Speaker 2: Yeah, can't you kind of just see like if you 401 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:18,639 Speaker 2: sped it up like a forest just sinking into the 402 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:20,720 Speaker 2: sea and then being covered with sediment and a new 403 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:22,440 Speaker 2: forest grows on top of it, and that sinks in 404 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:24,320 Speaker 2: the sea, and if you do it fast enough that 405 00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:27,760 Speaker 2: bugs Bunny Powerhouse song just starts playing like it just 406 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:29,000 Speaker 2: becomes a conveyor belt. 407 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:31,639 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's just nuts to think about. 408 00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:33,920 Speaker 2: But that's exactly what they found with that. And they 409 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:36,800 Speaker 2: found that from the Alaska earthquake. And they were like, Okay, 410 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:40,000 Speaker 2: didn't know that this happened. Now that we know this, 411 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:41,720 Speaker 2: this is a thing, we can start looking for it 412 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:44,919 Speaker 2: in other places we think are earthquake prone. And they 413 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:47,560 Speaker 2: started looking around and they found it in other places 414 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:50,800 Speaker 2: as a matter of fact, the big one along the 415 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:57,679 Speaker 2: Cascadian subduction zone that threatens California every moment of every day. 416 00:22:57,920 --> 00:23:01,280 Speaker 2: We know about that thanks to the science that they 417 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:04,800 Speaker 2: figured out thanks to the Alaska earthquake of sixty four. 418 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:09,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, at birthed a new science in paleo seismology, which 419 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:11,679 Speaker 1: is that I meaning that didn't happen every day. We 420 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:14,199 Speaker 1: try all the time to birth new sciences and no 421 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:15,120 Speaker 1: one's listening. 422 00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:18,320 Speaker 2: Now, but we don't have cool names like paleo seismology 423 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:20,800 Speaker 2: or megathrust, and maybe we should rethink things. 424 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:23,719 Speaker 1: That's true. Mega thrust is the sexiest science. 425 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:25,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, it sounds like a Guar album. 426 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:27,280 Speaker 1: Oh it does actually. 427 00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:30,639 Speaker 2: Yeah. Another thing was that we kind of talked about 428 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:34,240 Speaker 2: that we didn't really understand before were tsunamis title waves, 429 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:37,760 Speaker 2: And of course we knew about tsunamis and title waves, 430 00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:40,399 Speaker 2: and I guess science has kind of had a pretty 431 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:45,159 Speaker 2: decent grasp. I'm like, Okay, an epicenter of a major 432 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:47,639 Speaker 2: earthquake out at sea is going to send a tsunami 433 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:50,040 Speaker 2: and maybe we can't even calculate how long it'll take 434 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:52,840 Speaker 2: to get there and all that stuff. But they were 435 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:56,680 Speaker 2: baffled by why some of these coastal areas were hit 436 00:23:56,720 --> 00:24:00,000 Speaker 2: by tsunamis within just a couple of minutes of the earthquake. 437 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:02,959 Speaker 2: It just did not fit into the understanding of tidal 438 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:04,200 Speaker 2: waves at the time. 439 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:07,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. So they you know, did some literal 440 00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:11,719 Speaker 1: digging and some figurative digging, and they came to this 441 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:15,400 Speaker 1: was the unique shape of Alaska's coastline at the time, 442 00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:18,600 Speaker 1: where you know, very jagged and you'd have some deep 443 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:22,399 Speaker 1: fiords where glaciers had cut into the land that would 444 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:26,199 Speaker 1: send silts onto the ocean floor. And the quake just 445 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:29,679 Speaker 1: kind of stirred all this stuff up, like you know, 446 00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:32,600 Speaker 1: sand in a glass that had been settled down there 447 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:36,720 Speaker 1: for centuries and centuries. And these were basically underwater landslides 448 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:41,359 Speaker 1: that caused these waves. So it was I think that 449 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:44,639 Speaker 1: a new term was birth, which was land landslide tsunami. 450 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:48,440 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, it's like dropping something heavy in a bathtub 451 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:52,040 Speaker 2: and preduke like that. But it's a little different, but 452 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:53,159 Speaker 2: the same thing kind of. 453 00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:56,199 Speaker 1: That's right. And you man, you got to tell them 454 00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:56,960 Speaker 1: about this spungus. 455 00:24:56,960 --> 00:24:59,280 Speaker 2: This is it I hard to believe, this is yours. 456 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:01,760 Speaker 2: I'll tee it up for you, all right, there is 457 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:05,879 Speaker 2: a mystery with some fungus. Get to it. 458 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:12,600 Speaker 1: Yeah, so Crypto caucus, that's pretty easy. Cryptoccus Gatti too, 459 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:13,440 Speaker 1: TI's two eyes. 460 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:15,840 Speaker 2: No is Cryptococcus Gotti? 461 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:18,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, I got Ti? That's right. And how you have 462 00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:18,800 Speaker 1: to say it? 463 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:21,720 Speaker 2: I think so, but you have to go up really high. 464 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:27,040 Speaker 1: Pitched got te. So this is a microscopic fungus. It 465 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:30,439 Speaker 1: can be pretty bad. It can cause fatal infections. But 466 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:33,159 Speaker 1: it's like this native to the tropics, So Alaska's like, 467 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:35,000 Speaker 1: we don't have to worry about that kind of thing. Sure, 468 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:39,040 Speaker 1: it grows on rotting wood in the tropics, and apparently 469 00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:42,879 Speaker 1: it survives pretty well in seawater. At the turn of 470 00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:45,679 Speaker 1: the twentieth century, apparently some of this fungus ended up 471 00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:49,919 Speaker 1: among us and by way of a ballast in the 472 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:52,080 Speaker 1: water of a ship that was going on a route 473 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:55,840 Speaker 1: from Brazil to Vancouver and off the coast of the 474 00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:59,760 Speaker 1: Pacific northwest there. Once this stuff was spilled out of 475 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:03,080 Speaker 1: that ballast, it said, Hey, we like the seawater. We're 476 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:05,680 Speaker 1: going to adapt and we're here. You don't know we're 477 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:07,520 Speaker 1: here yet, but we're going to be here. In nineteen 478 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:10,840 Speaker 1: sixty four, when this tsunami happens, and it's going to 479 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:14,080 Speaker 1: spread us now far and wide, right, Yeah. 480 00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:16,840 Speaker 2: I mean that tsunami took this stuff that had just 481 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:18,720 Speaker 2: been hanging out off the coast that no one even 482 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:22,000 Speaker 2: knew was there except maybe that ship captain if he 483 00:26:22,119 --> 00:26:25,359 Speaker 2: was nefarious, that's right, and just spread it inland. This 484 00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:27,720 Speaker 2: is nineteen sixty four, and now all of a sudden, 485 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:30,080 Speaker 2: the fungus is like, Okay, we're in a new habitat, 486 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:33,320 Speaker 2: new ecosystem. Let's get to adapting here. And it did. 487 00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:37,160 Speaker 2: It survived that tsunami and started to readapt to life 488 00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:41,600 Speaker 2: on land, but life on land in the tundra essentially. 489 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:46,199 Speaker 2: And so as that stuff started adapting and adapting, by 490 00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:50,000 Speaker 2: the nineties it was capable of infecting people again. And 491 00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:55,200 Speaker 2: there was this mysterious outbreak of Cryptococcus gati and they 492 00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:57,840 Speaker 2: could not figure out what the heck was going on because, 493 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:00,000 Speaker 2: as far as anybody knew, the only place you found 494 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:03,440 Speaker 2: that was in the tropics on rotting wood. I guess 495 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:07,040 Speaker 2: some epidemiologists kind of put two and two together based 496 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:10,280 Speaker 2: on the tsunami. He was like, basically, the only way 497 00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:13,280 Speaker 2: you could have taken this stuff and gotten it all 498 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:16,199 Speaker 2: over the land is from a tsunami, so he figured 499 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:17,080 Speaker 2: that's what happened. 500 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:19,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's I just I would love to know 501 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:21,840 Speaker 1: more about the story of how they traced it to 502 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:26,080 Speaker 1: this one ship that went from Brazil to Vancouver. You know, 503 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:30,080 Speaker 1: obviously shipping records, but it's still like quite a bit 504 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:31,680 Speaker 1: of scientific detective work. 505 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:34,560 Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure, for sure. And I'm not sure if 506 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:36,600 Speaker 2: he figured that part out too or not, but I 507 00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:40,480 Speaker 2: know that I was reading in that article by Christian 508 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:43,280 Speaker 2: Elliott in Smithsonian. He's talking about how the guy figured 509 00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:45,520 Speaker 2: out how it got onto land at least. 510 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:48,399 Speaker 1: Yeah, pretty cool. All right, So we'll take our final 511 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:51,240 Speaker 1: break here and we'll talk about maybe a silver lining 512 00:27:51,320 --> 00:28:16,040 Speaker 1: that came out of this right after this, all right. So, 513 00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:19,280 Speaker 1: you know, anytime something like this happens, there is usually 514 00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:22,760 Speaker 1: a scientific silver lining as far as just learning, you know, 515 00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:26,560 Speaker 1: about things that took place, learning how to maybe not 516 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:28,960 Speaker 1: prevent in the future, but at least get more lead 517 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:32,240 Speaker 1: time in the future. And then also and most importantly 518 00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:34,600 Speaker 1: probably is like how to build and where to build 519 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:35,359 Speaker 1: moving forward. 520 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:40,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, and the Alaska earthquake taught us not there, Nope, 521 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:45,040 Speaker 2: not there either, Yeah, not there, not there, And it 522 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:47,720 Speaker 2: just goes on like that, right, But people were like, no, 523 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:49,760 Speaker 2: we want to build there. So one of the things 524 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:52,520 Speaker 2: that we learned how to do was to number one, 525 00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:55,320 Speaker 2: figure out where not to build, but also how to 526 00:28:55,440 --> 00:29:00,280 Speaker 2: build so that like buildings just didn't immediately call apps 527 00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:02,920 Speaker 2: and whole towns weren't just swallowed up at the drop 528 00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:04,000 Speaker 2: of a richter. You know. 529 00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:10,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, Alaska as a state started adopting you know, 530 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:15,440 Speaker 1: obviously new building codes, and you know, especially if it 531 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:17,000 Speaker 1: was like a big building, if it was like a 532 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:20,600 Speaker 1: like a large apartment building, which I mean I don't 533 00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:22,760 Speaker 1: think Alaska has a ton of those, but you know, 534 00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:27,200 Speaker 1: larger buildings. They are now kind of neck and neck 535 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:30,960 Speaker 1: with California for having the strictest building codes, and it's 536 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:33,680 Speaker 1: worked pretty well. There was another big earthquake and Anchorage 537 00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:37,600 Speaker 1: in twenty eighteen that injured about one hundred and seventeen people. 538 00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:41,320 Speaker 1: That was a seven point zero and caused seventy six 539 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:44,800 Speaker 1: million dollars in damages. But and you know, stuff got destroyed, 540 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:47,640 Speaker 1: like roads and stuff, to be sure, but no one died. 541 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:50,600 Speaker 1: There were no like really serious injuries, and a lot 542 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:53,880 Speaker 1: of those buildings stayed you know upright. 543 00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:56,719 Speaker 2: Yeah, And So one reason or one way that they 544 00:29:56,800 --> 00:29:59,920 Speaker 2: developed those building codes and also where to build was 545 00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:05,040 Speaker 2: the widespread deployment of seismographs. Right. I think in the 546 00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:08,760 Speaker 2: nineteen sixty four earthquake, there were only two seismograph stations 547 00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:12,600 Speaker 2: in all of Alaska, right, and the oldest one had 548 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:16,880 Speaker 2: been installed sixty years before. Right after that, they started 549 00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:21,320 Speaker 2: throwing seismic stations up all over Alaska, around California, in 550 00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:26,440 Speaker 2: western Canada, and we started to develop more and more information. 551 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:30,280 Speaker 2: One thing I saw is that the thing that really 552 00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:34,080 Speaker 2: got seismographs out there though, was the arms race. The 553 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:35,040 Speaker 2: nuclear arms race. 554 00:30:35,160 --> 00:30:36,400 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, we. 555 00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:40,160 Speaker 2: Were using seismographs to listen out for other countries secretly 556 00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:43,120 Speaker 2: testing nukes, and that that's what we were using them 557 00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:45,200 Speaker 2: for initially, and then people were like, huh, let's start 558 00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:48,720 Speaker 2: actually listening for earthquakes. So by being able to get 559 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:52,320 Speaker 2: a lot of information about big and small quakes, how 560 00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:56,520 Speaker 2: frequently they were, where they were epicentered, we were able 561 00:30:56,560 --> 00:30:59,000 Speaker 2: to really kind of zero in and come up with 562 00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:02,320 Speaker 2: entire maps of where to build, where not to build. 563 00:31:02,360 --> 00:31:07,000 Speaker 2: There's this National Seismic Hazard Map, which is a party 564 00:31:07,120 --> 00:31:13,280 Speaker 2: in a map from what I understand, and we have 565 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:15,480 Speaker 2: that thanks to this earthquake in the science that it 566 00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:16,240 Speaker 2: kicked off. 567 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:19,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. I think just like less than ten 568 00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:22,840 Speaker 1: years later, there were up to ninety seismic stations in 569 00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:28,400 Speaker 1: Alaska alone, and then by the mid two thousands, I 570 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:32,320 Speaker 1: think one hundred and ninety seven sites in Alaska and 571 00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:35,400 Speaker 1: Western Canada. That was just over like a three year 572 00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:39,520 Speaker 1: period through the National Science Foundation's us Array project from 573 00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:41,640 Speaker 1: twenty fourteen to twenty seventeen is when they got all 574 00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:44,960 Speaker 1: those and then what we learned about, you know, tsunamis 575 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:47,920 Speaker 1: and people living along the coast like that led to 576 00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:52,360 Speaker 1: a lot of new information as far as what was 577 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:54,720 Speaker 1: ended up being the National Tsunami Warning Center. 578 00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:58,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, we definitely got way better at predicting where tsunamis 579 00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:00,800 Speaker 2: would hit, how bad it would be. And one of 580 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:03,040 Speaker 2: the other things too, is I guess people didn't really 581 00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:05,320 Speaker 2: realize this, but if you were living on the coast, 582 00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:07,840 Speaker 2: probably if you were of European descent, I'll bet if 583 00:32:07,840 --> 00:32:10,240 Speaker 2: you were indigenous, you already knew this. But if you 584 00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:13,880 Speaker 2: feel an earthquake, go run to high land, Yeah, because 585 00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:17,840 Speaker 2: there's probably a tsunami coming within a couple minutes. That 586 00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:22,440 Speaker 2: seemed to have been widely understood only after the earthquake 587 00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:24,880 Speaker 2: in Alaska, which I guess makes sense if we didn't 588 00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:27,000 Speaker 2: understand local tsunamis at the time. 589 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:33,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure they. I think the retreating glaciers are 590 00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:36,400 Speaker 1: potentially causing even more trouble as far as today goes 591 00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:41,280 Speaker 1: in Alaska. That permafrost could make the land more vulnerable 592 00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:44,040 Speaker 1: to you know, destruction. I know, I mentioned the twenty 593 00:32:44,080 --> 00:32:46,840 Speaker 1: eighteen one. There was even bigger one just a few 594 00:32:46,880 --> 00:32:49,320 Speaker 1: years ago in twenty twenty one, that reached eight point two, 595 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:55,040 Speaker 1: but being Alaska, it was fortunately in a more remote area. Yeah, 596 00:32:55,080 --> 00:32:57,800 Speaker 1: and so a lot less damage. That's kind of you know, 597 00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:00,120 Speaker 1: the one benefit of Alaska. The reason this one was 598 00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:02,280 Speaker 1: so bad, it was because it hit the towns and 599 00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:03,120 Speaker 1: cities along. 600 00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:07,080 Speaker 2: The coast right exactly for sure. Yeah. And the fossil 601 00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:13,080 Speaker 2: fuel industry was joyous because there pipeline, the Trans Alaska Pipeline, 602 00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:18,320 Speaker 2: did not suffer much damage in earthquake in two thousand 603 00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:18,960 Speaker 2: and two, I. 604 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:22,440 Speaker 1: Think, Yeah, I mean that's one of the big worries 605 00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:26,040 Speaker 1: is that there's so much oil activity there in fossil 606 00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:30,760 Speaker 1: fuel infrastructure that you know, an another big one that 607 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:34,080 Speaker 1: did a lot of damage to that could cause you know, 608 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:39,840 Speaker 1: big obviously human concerns, but very much could devastate the 609 00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:42,000 Speaker 1: region environmentally for sure. 610 00:33:42,080 --> 00:33:47,520 Speaker 2: And I mean in part because so the Trans Alaska pipeline. 611 00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:51,360 Speaker 2: In this case, it was the Dnali fault that caused 612 00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:53,920 Speaker 2: a seven point nine magnitude earthquake the two thousand and 613 00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:57,000 Speaker 2: two to one, and that pipeline goes right across the fault. 614 00:33:57,560 --> 00:34:01,960 Speaker 2: So yes, it is a very seems like a tenuous 615 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:06,680 Speaker 2: technology as it stands. For sure, you got anything else 616 00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:13,000 Speaker 2: about the Alaska earthquake of nineteen sixty four, I do not. Nope, Okay, 617 00:34:13,160 --> 00:34:15,040 Speaker 2: I don't either, So I guess that means it's time 618 00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:15,879 Speaker 2: for listener mail. 619 00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:20,839 Speaker 1: Well, we're going to forego listener mail for the next 620 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:23,680 Speaker 1: couple of weeks to chat a little bit like at 621 00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:29,360 Speaker 1: fireside chat about our upcoming sea voyage with Virgin Cruises 622 00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:32,960 Speaker 1: above the Valiant Lady, We're going to be taken to see, Okay, 623 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:36,680 Speaker 1: taking and taken to see. We're going from New York 624 00:34:36,680 --> 00:34:41,640 Speaker 1: City to Bermuda October second through seventh with our colleagues, 625 00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:44,440 Speaker 1: our old pals. You know that we started the stuff 626 00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:46,319 Speaker 1: shows with way back in the day, A couple of 627 00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:49,080 Speaker 1: which stuff Mom never told you, and stuff they don't 628 00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:51,919 Speaker 1: want you to know. We'll be there with us, we'll 629 00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:54,959 Speaker 1: be doing a live show, we'll be doing some other stuff. 630 00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:56,560 Speaker 1: They keep talking about these other events we're going to do. 631 00:34:56,600 --> 00:34:58,239 Speaker 1: I don't know if it's like a trivia night or 632 00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:01,200 Speaker 1: definitely like meet and greets and stuff. But we're pretty 633 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:01,920 Speaker 1: excited about it. 634 00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:05,440 Speaker 2: Yeah for sure. And I think, did you say we're 635 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:09,080 Speaker 2: going to Bermuda? Yeah, okay, so I think it's worth 636 00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:11,200 Speaker 2: saying again we're going to Bermuda on this and it's 637 00:35:11,239 --> 00:35:14,120 Speaker 2: going to be a pretty fun five night cruise. And 638 00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:17,279 Speaker 2: I believe there's still passages that can be booked, but 639 00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:21,000 Speaker 2: they're actually selling like pretty fast. I'm impressed with us, Chuck. 640 00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:24,440 Speaker 1: I know, I'm excited. And we just found out, you know, 641 00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:27,160 Speaker 1: Matt and Noel and Ben with stuff they don't want 642 00:35:27,200 --> 00:35:28,520 Speaker 1: you to know, have been on one of these before. 643 00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:31,640 Speaker 1: And they said it was a great time. And they said, 644 00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:35,160 Speaker 1: here's a little pro tip. You know, the venue where 645 00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:37,880 Speaker 1: we're doing our actual the live podcast portion, you know, 646 00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:42,399 Speaker 1: can't fit twenty seven hundred like everybody on board, right, 647 00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:45,200 Speaker 1: And they said, hey, pro tip here is when you 648 00:35:45,239 --> 00:35:47,320 Speaker 1: get on board, you sign up for the different stuff. 649 00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:50,239 Speaker 1: So I think through the app, so they like tell 650 00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:51,719 Speaker 1: everybody to get on there and sign up for your 651 00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:54,160 Speaker 1: live show. But I think they're also like, they're gonna 652 00:35:54,200 --> 00:35:56,600 Speaker 1: have cameras and you can watch it on TV in 653 00:35:56,640 --> 00:35:57,359 Speaker 1: your room as well. 654 00:35:57,719 --> 00:36:01,560 Speaker 2: Oh, Nate, closed circuit Is there anything more wondrous than 655 00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:02,600 Speaker 2: close circuit TV? 656 00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:04,960 Speaker 1: I don't know. We should do a show about it. 657 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:09,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, that should be our onboard show, that's right. Yes, 658 00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:13,800 Speaker 2: So you can go to Virgin dot com slash Stuff 659 00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:14,520 Speaker 2: at Sea. 660 00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:18,960 Speaker 1: Right, yeah, or just google Stuff at Sea Virgin Cruises, 661 00:36:19,040 --> 00:36:21,120 Speaker 1: Stuff you Should Know Cruise. It'll all get you. 662 00:36:21,080 --> 00:36:24,120 Speaker 2: There, and there really is no better time to learn 663 00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:26,000 Speaker 2: how to walk around with a parrot on your shoulder 664 00:36:26,040 --> 00:36:27,560 Speaker 2: than this particular. 665 00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:28,360 Speaker 1: Cruise, agreed. 666 00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:31,160 Speaker 2: So yeah, So we'll see you guys in October, but 667 00:36:31,239 --> 00:36:33,760 Speaker 2: even before then, we'll see you on the next episode 668 00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:36,279 Speaker 2: of Stuff you Should Know. And in the meantime you 669 00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:39,880 Speaker 2: can send us an email to stuff podcast at iHeartRadio 670 00:36:39,960 --> 00:36:43,400 Speaker 2: dot com. 671 00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:46,400 Speaker 1: Stuff you Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For 672 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:50,680 Speaker 1: more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 673 00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:52,640 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.