On 27 March 1964 , the largest earthquake in the recorded history of North America struck South-Central Alaska . Tsunamis devastated Valdez , Seward and Kodiak . Gaping fissures , crumbled buildings and burst pipes dotted Anchorage . In the immediate aftermath , Major James Rowe arrived at Kulis from the airport , reporting that its control tower had been demolished . Two Air Guard members sped over with a wrecking truck , which they used to free three men trapped in the rubble . Rowe , meanwhile , started the engines of a C-123 and went aloft , serving as an emergency control tower and relaying what he could see to the rest of the world
On 27 March 1964 , the largest earthquake
1964 Alaska earthquake
144th Airlift Squadron