Welcome to your seismic update from across the state for the week of January 21st. I’m
Michael West with the Alaska Earthquake Center, where we monitor ground shaking 24-7.
- Over the past week, we recorded about 800 seismic events. Four were reported as felt,
and the largest was a magnitude 5.9 on January 14th at the western end of the Aleutian Islands
Islands. - We are often asked how we coordinate with the National Tsunami Warning Center in
Palmer. Their mission is national, but most domestic tsunamis come from, you guessed
it, Alaska. So the short answer is that we work ‘very closely’. - The Earthquake Center collects data from our statewide sensor network. This includes
stations in tsunami regions. We stream this data to the Tsunami Warning Center, where
they use it to help determine whether there is a credible tsunami threat. As part of the
National Weather Service is ideally positioned to disseminate urgent alerts,
whether those are to folks in Dutch Harbor, the White House, or other countries. - On July 29, a massive M8.8 earthquake occurred on the east coast of Russia. In the first
A couple of minutes later, the seismic waves rippled across the sensors in Alaska and elsewhere.
The Tsunami Warning Center used these data to determine the impact region and issue
warnings accordingly. - In the past week, the largest earthquake captured by the network was a M5.9 near
Amchitka. Just four minutes after the quake, the tsunami warning center issued a notice
making clear that no tsunami was expected. Sometimes, the ‘all clear’ is just as
important as the warning. - You can learn more at tsunami.alaska.edu.
