University of Alaska funds tsunami detections station through January as federal funding remains uncertain

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Nine Alaska tsunami detection stations will stay online after the University of Alaska stepped in with emergency funding, but their long-term future remains uncertain.

The university is covering costs to keep the stations running until about February after federal funding was cut, buying time for a possible resolution with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“We’ve had some very strong engagement from NOAA officials in Washington, D.C.,” State Seismologist Michael West told Alaska’s News Source Tuesday. “There has not been a reversal of this yet, but I am cautiously optimistic that in the new year, there will be a resolution to this period.”

West previously told Alaska’s News Source NOAA told him in September funding for these stations would no longer be renewed.

The cuts eliminated funding for the nine stations in mid-November. West said many of the stations are located in the Aleutian Islands — an area he called a breeding ground for deadly tsunamis — and warned the cut could create dangerous blind spots in the state’s ability to detect tsunamis.

The funding cut came during the longest government shutdown in history, which ended Nov. 13.

“In the early minutes after an earthquake, the first piece of information generally comes or always comes from seismic detections and to assess whether an earthquake is potentially tsunami causing or not,” West said. “In order to do that, you need well-spaced observations along the coastline, and that’s part of what this award helped support.”

West said the issue highlights the challenge of ensuring Alaska’s unique needs are understood in Washington, D.C.

“We’re thousands of miles away from the seat of federal power in this country,” he said. “It’s on all of us at times, not just in the tsunami world, but in a lot of different areas to attempt to convey to folks in DC the hazards and risks and challenges that we face in Alaska that may be different than what they’re used to seeing.”

A NOAA spokesperson said in an email Friday UAF is working with the National Weather Service on a potential funding solution but did not provide a timeline for when a decision might be made.

“UAF is actively working with the NWS on a potential funding mechanism to maintain the real-time dataflow to NOAA’s National Tsunami Warning Center,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the funding was originally cut under the previous administration. West said he wasn’t notified of the cut until September 2025, nearly a year later.

“NOAA has numerous other sources of seismic data, one of which is the EarthScope Consortium’s Data Management Center,” the spokesperson said. EarthScope Consortium is a National Science Foundation program.

“By losing the direct feed from the AEC seismic data and instead receiving the data from EarthScope, the expected data latency is 30-60 seconds. The loss of these observations does not prevent the Tsunami Warning Center from being able to carry out its mission.”

For many of the stations which lost federal funding, there are no substitute stations surrounding the ones that will go offline. Most seismic monitoring stations are located in the interior or in South Central, east of Anchorage.

When mid-November came around, though, the stations didn’t go offline.

“Because it looks like there may be a resolution around the corner, the university authorized us to spend monies over the next two months or so to bridge the gap, if you will,” West said. “I am very grateful to the university.”

That funding, West said, is set to run out in January, but he’s optimistic NOAA will step in by then.

West acknowledged the challenge of resolving the issue during a turbulent time for federal agencies.

“The federal government is on continuing resolution,” he said. “There’s been some turmoil in all federal agencies this year. But the folks who were there, I’m cautiously optimistic we will find a resolution.”

If the funding is not restored by then, the stations may go offline. UAF could reauthorize additional funding, but West said he doesn’t expect that scenario to unfold.

“I am hoping for a good, strong, confirmed path forward here at the beginning of the new year,” he added.

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