Warning System Glitches Found After Alaska Quake

June 24, 2011|By Ashton Goodell | Channel 2 News

PALMER, AK — Glitches are being reported in Alaska's tsunami warning system after Thursday night's 7.3 earthquake in the Aleutian chain.

People living on the Aleutian Islands have been preparing for the next big earthquake and Thursday night they put their emergency plans into action, but not everyone got the warning message and some areas were alerted when they shouldn't have been.

Tsunami warning messages on TV and radio were sent late-- at about the same time the warning was being canceled.

Officials say the communities that needed to know were alerted in time.

“It didn't get out as early as we would like," Bryan Fisher with the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said. “There are a number of systems that are activated; the emergency alert system being one of those. The message got out across all other systems.”

The National Weather Service, which is tasked with sounding the emergency alert system, says it is not sure why the broadcast alerts were delayed, saying it's investigating whether it was a procedural or technical problem.

People along the Kenai Peninsula were alerted when they shouldn't have been, because their warning system is designed to alert when a tsunami is listed anywhere in the state.

The tsunami warning center has eight minutes to get the word out. An alert message is put out for all quakes larger than 4.0. They say the first warning is the earthquake itself.

“We tell people if you feel an earthquake that lasts more than 30 seconds and it's big enough to make it difficult to stand up or big enough to knock you down, head to high ground immediately. Don’t wait for an alert.” Guy Urban, a Geophysicist at the Tsunami Warning Center said.

Communities near the earthquake's epicenter in the Aleutians followed that advice and immediately started evacuating.

"We did have a measured tsunami at St. Paul Island, and at Adak, and Nikolski had some measured run ups. They were minimal.” Becki Legatt an Oceanographer with the center said.

Water crept up just a few centimeters in communities along the Aleutian Chain, creating a wave so insignificant that someone standing on the shore wouldn't notice.

No injuries were reported. The incident is a good reminder to have an disaster preparedness kit and a emergency communication plan for your family. For more information Click Here.

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