Improvements in the Tsunami Warning Center in Alaska

Abstract

The Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (ATWC) has implemented many major changes in order to provide timely and effective tsunami warning services for coastal populations in Alaska, and the west coasts of Canada and the lower 48 States. The basis for these improvements was the integration of computers and associated applied research developments into the operations. New concepts, developments, procedures, computers, and equipment resulted in a highly automated tsunami warning system which analyzes data from potential tsunamigenic earthquakes in real-time, and disseminates critical information to affected coastal populations via satellite and high speed teletypewriter communication systems. Seismic and tide networks have been enlarged to improve the accuracy and timeliness in determining earthquake parameters and confirming the existence of a tsunami. The ATWC's system has been exercised for seven recent potential tsunamigenic earthquakes with warnings being issued in an average of 11 minutes after an earthquake's origin time. The ATWC's community preparedness program has been expanded to aid those who may be caught in the immediate vicinity of a violent earthquake and its subsequent tsunami.