‘There are impressions that are seared into my brain’: Man recalls 1964 quake, tsunami in Valdez

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The Great Alaska Earthquake struck Alaska 61 years ago on March 27, 1964, at 5:36 p.m.

As the number of Alaskans old enough to remember the day’s events dwindles, some are choosing to tell their stories so it is not lost.

Wade Huls, who was in Valdez when the earthquake and tsunami hit, recounts the events while wearing a green badge with pride, indicating he was someone who was able to survive the quake and resulting tsunami in the small town.

It started as a day no one knew they would remember forever, including the then-11-year-old Huls.

“Valdez was a unique place. And that was when a ship came in, that was our connection to the outer world,” he said, recalling a time before the quake.

“Everybody would go down and take their family and their kids. They’d go down to the docks and watch the Chena, the steamship,” Wade said.

While many in the little town were at the docks that evening, Wade and his friend Louie were farther from the shore.

“We were done with school. If I could help him deliver his paper route, he was going to come to my house, spend the night, and we were going to play all Saturday,” Wade said whimsically — not knowing in those moments, he and Louie would find themselves only about 50 miles from the epicenter of the world’s second-largest quake in recorded history.

“The sound, I don’t know how to describe it,” Wade said of the earth shaking.

The pair abandoned their attempt to enter a nearby building.

“Then, a crevasse was opening right near me and Louie,” he said. “At that age, we had no concept of what was happening.”

The shaking continued to rock the region for several minutes.

“I was standing right there, seeing the crevasse open up and close and open and close.”

Wade said he watched a pet dog get caught in the fissure.

“I saw Tike, the back end of him, go into a crevasse and he was just hanging on to the top ground with his two front paws,” he said. “And I saw the crevasse close on it. And then it opened back up again. And old Tike, I had never seen him move so fast.”

Louie’s dad spotted the boys while the earth was still moving violently.

“He was running to catch up to his son. And I swear, the road that he was on, he was going from side to side in my vision,” Wade said.

After the ground stopped shaking, Louie and Wade headed to their own homes.

As Wade walked the mile home, he didn’t know an underwater landslide had triggered a tsunami that had taken out the docks — and many of the people greeting the Chena with it.

“I was not aware of all the disaster that had taken place down at the docks,” Wade said. “And I was not aware of all my friends that had lost their lives.

“Up to that point, my parents didn’t know if I was at the docks too.”

Wade’s name was on the missing person’s list.

“Finally, I got there to my mom and sisters, and my dad came running in and he says, ‘Wade, Wade, where have you been?‘” Wade said.

His mom whisked the family off to higher ground because she was concerned a bigger tsunami was approaching.

“We went up 27 miles away, up to the top of Thompson Pass. And I really didn’t understand what was happening,” Wade said.

His dad, the town’s postmaster, stayed behind to prepare for waves to submerge Valdez.

“He saved everybody’s mail that were in the mailboxes,” Wade said. “Probably Social Security checks, things that helped people survive. And he went down and stayed in town and put those things in the waterproof, fireproof safe.”

It was an act Wade said earned his father a plaque from President Lyndon Johnson.

The devastation continued. A few hours later, fuel storage tanks burst into flames.

“I saw that town on fire. It seemed like the whole town was on fire and it burnt for days,” Wade said.

Six decades later, Wade re-lived the earthquake’s impact.

“A lot of bad came from that earthquake,” Wade said as his voice broke with sadness.

“I lost friends,” he stuttered as he choked up.

He held with him a laminated list of lives lost in Valdez on March 27, 1964. Many of them were swept off the docks while greeting the Chena.

Out of the more than 30 handwritten names on Wade’s memorial, he said the Stuarts mean the most to him.

“Because I knew all the kids from school. And I was excited that they had just joined the church,” he said.

Taking a moment to recall those who didn’t survive is what helped Wade realize the significance of the Great Alaska Earthquake.

Sixty-one years later, these are moments he will never forget.

“There are impressions that are seared into my brain, like I said, it happened yesterday,” Wade said.

This article has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of the Stuarts.

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