NOAA cuts back on seismic data used for West Coast tsunami alerts

Amanda Zhou, The Seattle Times on Nov 11, 2025

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SEATTLE — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ended a contract with the Alaska Earthquake Center that helped maintain some seismic stations and transmit data in real time.

Alaska state seismologist and director of the center, Michael West, warned that the termination of this contract, which is around two decades old, will lead to less timely and accurate tsunami warnings that could affect Alaska, Hawaiʻi and the West Coast.

It’s unclear why NOAA chose to terminate the contract, worth around $300,000 annually. David Snider, a tsunami warning coordinator with NOAA’s National Tsunami Warning Center, declined to comment, deferring to NOAA public affairs, which did not respond to request for comment.

Every time an earthquake happens, NOAA’s Tsunami Warning Centers determine whether to issue a tsunami alert within five minutes. Depending on where the earthquake originated, coastal communities could have anywhere from 20 minutes to six hours to evacuate or prepare for a tsunami.

NOAA has two tsunami warning centers, which were established decades ago after tsunamis killed over 100 people. One located in Alaska alerts places along the West Coast, Alaska and Canada and the other, located in Hawaiʻi, is in charge of alerting the U.S.’s Pacific and Caribbean territories, the Hawaiian Islands and the British Virgin Islands.

Not all earthquakes cause tsunamis, and tides and underwater topography often play a role in how those tsunamis affect coastal areas. Earthquakes that move a small amount of the earth and move side to side are much less likely to generate a tsunami than large earthquakes that move the crust up and down, West said.

The accuracy of the tsunami alerts depends on quality data, he said. That’s where the Alaska Earthquake Center comes in.

While the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network operates more than 600 seismic stations across two states, the Alaska Earthquake Center operates around 250. The contract that was terminated supported real-time data exchange between the Alaska Earthquake Center and NOAA’s Tsunami Warning Center as well as operations at nine seismic stations, some of which are in remote locations, West said.

Where Alaska has lost seismic stations

The Alaska Earthquake Center operates around 250 seismic-monitoring stations in Alaska, mostly funded by the U.S. Geological Survey. Later this year, nine stations funded by NOAA are slated to be shut down.

Determining within a short time where to issue a tsunami warning and evacuation is a difficult and sometimes imprecise science, he said. However, without the Alaska Earthquake Center’s data, tsunami warnings only stand to become less accurate, West said.

Alaska is a breeding ground for tsunamis and earthquakes, thanks to the subduction zone near the Aleutian Islands. Over the last century, there have been a slew of destructive tsunamis that originated in Alaska, he said.

“Statistically, the next large tsunami that hits the West Coast is likely to come from Alaska,” West said.

While most of the Alaska Earthquake Center’s seismic stations are funded by the U.S. Geological Survey, NOAA chose the locations and funds the operations of around nine stations, he said. These stations will go dark in November, following the path of a few other NOAA stations that were decommissioned after budget cuts in 2013.

Getting data from Alaska seismic stations is difficult because of the region’s ruggedness and remoteness. When engineers are sent to check up on seismic stations, it can take a week or two before the weather is clear enough for a flight back, he said. Data from remote stations is often sent through satellites, telephone lines, fiber optic cables and radio signals.

While there is an honest debate to be had about how much data is too much and where, West said that was not the approach NOAA took when declining to renew the contract.

West said he was told over email on Sept. 30 that the contract, which would have begun on Oct. 1, was not being renewed. West said he believes that in the current political climate and amid funding chaos, it’s likely the $300,000 allocated to the Alaska Earthquake Center just got cut.

Since President Donald Trump took office, NOAA and the National Weather Service have been thrust into uncertainty as the Department of Government Efficiency has cut spending and jobs for hundreds of employees around the country.