KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Waves of Destruction is a Kodiak College oral history exhibit of the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake and resulting tsunami. In the 1990s, students in Gary Stevens’ Alaska History classes at Kodiak College recorded the stories of more than 120 Kodiak residents, which were later archived at the University of Alaska Rasmusson Library. The Waves of Destruction online exhibit draws excerpts from these recordings to tell the story of the 1964 earthquake and tsunami in the voices of those who experienced them.
Today we’ll hear from Charles Mackey. He was on board the fishing boat The Ribbage, and was initially unaware of the earthquake. In the following excerpt, he describes his dramatic escape from the Kodiak boat harbor when the tsunami hit and is aftermath.
