Great Alaskan Earthquake

Join Ann Curry as two Alaskans try to track down childhood friends who also survived the state’s massive 1964 earthquake. A woman wants to thank a friend and her mom for shielding her from harm, and a man searches for a former Little League teammate.

Danny Kendall describes how on the day of the earthquake his buddy Bucky was nowhere to be seen, so he hung out with older boys Dennis and Stanley. Together they went to Valdez port to see the supply ship SS Chena that had docked that day.

Michele Wiley was watching TV at her friend Gretchen Young’s house in Turnagain, Anchorage, when the earthquake struck. She describes the intensity of the quake that seemed to go on forever, "like ten freight trains going through the house at the same time."

Michele is at the Bellingham County Library where she is shown yearbooks and her long lost friend Gretchen’s high school photos.  Librarian Suzanne Carlson-Prandini has found Gretchen’s marriage certificate and uses this information to search a database to find Gretchen’s current address and phone number in Seattle.

Danny drives to the Washington State Archives where he meets librarian Kathryn Devine to see articles about his friend Bucky and family.