The Cherwiy now under her own power, came also under the influence 

 a strong southerly current, which, despite her hid for deep water, 

 irried her close along shore, as in a jet stream. Of this period Captain 

 ewart records (Alaska Construction, 1965), "The Chena was moving but she 

 (aldn't steer away from the beach as mounds of water continuously swept 

 jainst the ship forcing her to a course next to the shore." Two ob- 

 Irvers who saw her at this time remarked on the jet-like speed of the 

 jrement (cf. for example. Bracken, 196U). This flow is confirmed by 

 J3 motion pictures of Numair and Nelson. Figure 171 is an enlargement 

 {am frame No. 2U6 of Numair's 8 mm motion-picture film and is believed 

 I have been taken from the approximate location shown in Figure 166. At 

 jis time an unidentified building floats southward as it descends a cas- 

 de formed apparently by the final failure of the sediments in a major 

 lump south of the harbor. The approximate location of the developing 

 lasm wall formed by the slump is shown in Figure 166. 



Moments later Nelson, looking back toward Valdez, photographed this 

 ntastic withdrawal of water and recorded the scene reproduced from his 

 Im as a panoramic composite view shown in Figure 172. The direction 

 d location of the picture are inferred in Figure 166. Mud flats were 

 irming behind the ship as it hurtled south. The awesome nature of the 

 :asm formed by the submarine slide (see Figure l67f) is shown in Figure 

 [3 which is another panoramic view from Nelson's film, photographed from 

 ie approximate position (f) in Figure I66, using the zoom lens for greater 

 |tail. It is believed that the location of the scarp formed by the slump 

 I revealed in the lower right-hand portion of the aerial photograph, 

 gure 17U, taken within a few days of the earthquake. 



Figure l67f, which envisions the submarine slide, also suggests the 

 Tmation of a wall of water on the seaward side of the Chena. This "wall" 

 .s reported by Sturgis (Bryant, I96U; Chance, I968) and was observed by 

 inning, a longshoreman who survived disaster in the Chena' s hold and 

 lached the deck. This slide and the attendant wave effect certainly 

 ■curred after the earthquake and was probably promoted by the major 

 •awdown of water, shown to occur in Figure 165 at about 5 to 6 minutes 

 'ter the start of the earthquake. 



The submarine slide was massive; approximately 98 million cubic 

 irds of material slumped away according to an estimate of Coulter and 

 Lgliaccio (1966). Comparative contours of water depth in the vicinity 

 r Valdez are shown in Figure 175 and typical profiles along cross sec- 

 Lons OA, OB, and OC are shown in Figure 176. Off the delta to the south 

 [• Valdez, depth changes exceeding 300 feet took place; off Valdez itself 

 le change is less but still about 100 feet. The major part of the slide 

 lus took place off the Lowe River delta, but a substantial part consoli- 

 ited and slid away at the Valdez waterfront and along the shore to the 

 Drth. 



The Chena escaped to deep water before the next large wave rolled 

 a over the demolished waterfront. This wave reached a level of I8 

 nches in the Valdez Hotel (Coulter and Migliaccio, 1966; Brown, I96U). 



Text resumes on page 278 

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