Alaska Earthquake Center receives USGS funding

November 23, 2020

The U.S. Geological Survey recently awarded the Alaska Earthquake Center a $2.85 million one-year award to operate and strengthen Alaska’s earthquake monitoring system. The AEC at UAF’s Geophysical Institute has worked daily with the USGS on earthquake issues since the first memorandum of understanding was signed in 1987.

House fires caused by ruptured gas lines in Kenai following the 2016 magnitude 7.1 Iniskin earthquake. A 33-year partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey continues to help the Alaska Earthquake Center pursue its mission to advance the state's resilience to earthquakes through monitoring, research and public engagement. Photo courtesy of the Kenai Fire Department.

“The importance of this current award is that it allows the Alaska Earthquake Center to provide data-driven analysis of earthquakes in Alaska to policy makers, community planners, emergency responders and scientists conducting research,” said Michael West, director of the AEC.

Impacts and repairs from the 2018 magnitude 7.1 Anchorage earthquake continue to this day, and recent massive earthquakes off the southern coast are a reminder of the ever-present hazard that looms over Alaska.

Recent awards through the USGS have allowed the center to narrow the considerable gap in monitoring capabilities that exists between Alaska and other seismically active states.

“We saw the benefits of these enhancements in the state’s data-informed response to the 2018 Anchorage earthquake,” West said.