Alaska may lose its 24/7 earthquake monitors to budget cuts

When the shaking stops, Alaska’s seismologists have a goal: 10 minutes.

That’s the time it should take for them to consult their instruments, run calculations, and determine the exact spot an earthquake happened. Ideally, it happens faster.

Lives will be at stake. Emergency response is based on need. Where the worst shaking occurs, the worst damage will be.

On Monday morning, when Southeast Alaska and the Yukon were rattled by a series of magnitude-6 earthquakes, the scientists at the Alaska Earthquake Center in Fairbanks didn’t need 10 minutes to identify their epicenters.

They needed 31.

Read more: http://juneauempire.com/state/2017-05-02/alaska-may-lose-its-247-earthquake-monitors-budget-cuts