NOAA deal saves Alaska tsunami warning centers from shutdown

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - A new agreement to fund nine seismic stations that help provide near-real-time tsunami threat information has been reached, restoring support for a key warning network after months of uncertainty.

The agreement, which took effect March 1, will stations owned by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Alaska Earthquake Center that feed data used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Tsunami Warning Centers to issue real-time alerts for Alaska, the Pacific Northwest and communities across the Pacific Basin.

The stations are especially critical in the Aleutian Islands, where tsunamis can arrive within minutes after a major earthquake.

The deal comes after concerns late last year that the stations could go offline without continued federal support.

NOAA said the funding will cover core operations needed to keep the stations running, including computer maintenance, 24/7 response support, data quality assurance, routine monitoring and site maintenance.

“Seismic stations are an important dataset for NOAA’s Tsunami Warning Centers to provide real-time warnings that save lives amid tsunamis and related hazards,” NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs said in a statement. “NOAA’s National Weather Service is committed to providing the fastest hazard warnings possible to Americans.”

The National Weather Service said the agreement was made through its National Mesonet Program, which buys observational data from networks operated by private entities and state-academic partnerships to supplement NOAA’s own observing systems.

For Alaska, the continued data stream is a significant development for coastal communities that depend on rapid warnings in one of the most seismically active regions in the world.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski praised the agreement, calling the Alaska Earthquake Center “an unparalleled resource” for public safety.

“In partnership with the National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, funding for seismic sensors in the Aleutians strengthens real-time warnings across the region,” Murkowski said. “I appreciate NOAA’s work to find a solution to continue the important monitoring capacities that save lives.”

Sen. Dan Sullivan also welcomed the deal, saying Alaska faces constant threats from earthquakes, tsunamis and landslides.

“Our communities rely on the National Weather Service and its partners — including the Alaska Earthquake Center — for timely and accurate data, research, and monitoring that enable swift public communication and effective preparedness for all hazards,” Sullivan said.

The funding announcement follows earlier warnings that nine tsunami detection-related seismic stations in Alaska could shut down after federal support was set to lapse. The University of Alaska previously stepped in with temporary funding to keep the stations operating through January while longer-term support remained uncertain.

The new NOAA agreement appears to resolve that immediate funding gap and preserve a stream of seismic data that emergency officials use to assess tsunami threats quickly after major earthquakes.

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