The damaging wave that came in about 11:^5 reached as far as Hobart 

 Street (see Figure 162) and was reported to have been 2 1/2 feet deep in 

 Valdez Hotel. This wave came in like a fast-moving tide. 



Water from the wave which came in at about 1:35 was 5 to 6 feet 

 deep in buildings along McKinley Street and 2 feet on Hobart Street. 

 Although it was not a smashing wave, it evidently advanced and receded 

 with considerable speed, because the high water marks were in most cases 

 higher outside than inside the buildings . The reason for this is sug- 

 gested in Figure 165, which supposes that peak level represented the 

 combination of two waves, one of approximately 2 hours period and the 

 second of about Uo minutes period, representing the primary oscillations 

 for Prince William Sound and the Valdez embayment , respectively. In 

 terms of height, each constituent would appear to have had an amplitude 

 of about 5 feet . 



It is not possible to differentiate in detail the runup for each 

 particular wave. The last wave caused the highest runup and from water- 

 marks it has been possible to trace approximately the runup within the 

 town. The runup distribution was sporadic and many apparently anomalous 

 effects were reported to have occurred. These can generally be explained 

 in large part by the existence of high snow berms and a deep snow cover 

 which channeled the water and restricted its distribution (Coulter and 

 Migliaccio, I966 ) . 



In Figure 179 we give an interpretation of the inundation from the 

 highest waves based on aerial photographs, examination of ground pho^o- 

 graphs, and consideration of eyewitness accounts. Contours on land, 

 referenced to MLLW, are based on a prequake survey of 1953 made by Thomas 

 Bourne Associates of Alaska, Inc., Anchorage, for the Alaska Public Works 

 Division. They have been adjusted for a regional subsidence of 1 foot 

 at Fifth Street in Valdez and for proportionally larger subsidences 

 approaching the waterfront, based on postquake observations made on 

 buildings at the waterfront by Kajiura and Kawasumi (Berg, et al, 196it; 

 Berg, personal communication, I966). Contours check well for consistency 

 with water level measurements made on numerous buildings throughout the 

 town and with observations made by the writers in I966. In general, it 

 may be said that the highest runup was to 20 feet above MLLW. 



Prior to the highest waves, there was other wave activity throughout 

 the evening. At about 8:00 p.m. a lifeboat from the Chena came in and 

 tied up at the ferry slip (Figures l62 and 179). Later (about 8:15) 

 this boat was found beached where the water had receded. While efforts 

 were being made to launch it , the boat was floated free again by an 

 incoming wave, and was able to return to the Chena (Bracken, 196U). It 

 appears that about 8:30, the Falcon returned from its sensational ex- 

 perience in the Valdez Narrows and tied up at the ferry slip. By 9:00, 

 withdrawal of water left the Falcon beached at this point. Then, at 

 about 9:30 (Chance, 1968), another, higher wave reached as far as Water 

 Street on Alaska Avenue (Figure 179). This wave, according to Bracken 

 (196I4), was like a fast-rising tide which he could evade only by walking 



283 



