West Coast/Alaska North America Tsunami Warning Center

Operations Manual

NOAA/NWS/WCATWC

910 South Felton Street

Palmer, Alaska 99645

Section 1.2: History of the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center

Last Updated: 9/2007

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The first tsunami warning center established in the United States was the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. This center, established in 1949 after the devastating tsunami of April 1 1946 generated in the Aleutian Islands, was originally known as the Honolulu Observatory. Following the Pacific-wide impact caused by the 1960 Chile tsunami, nations throughout the Pacific Basin coordinated to establish a basin-wide warning system. In 1968, the Honolulu Observatory expanded its scope to provide warnings to nations throughout the Pacific and was renamed the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC). Following the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, the center further expanded its scope to Indian Ocean and Caribbean Sea nations.

Figure 1. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center

The Palmer Observatory, under the auspices of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, was established in Palmer, Alaska in 1967 as a direct result of the great Alaskan earthquake that occurred in Prince William Sound on March 27, 1964. This earthquake alerted State and Federal officials that a facility was necessary to provide timely and effective tsunami warnings and earthquake information to the coastal areas of Alaska. Congress provided funds in 1965 to construct two new observatories and establish a tsunami warning system in Alaska. The first observatory constructed was at the U.S. Naval Station on Adak Island in the Andreanof Islands in the Central Aleutians. The City of Palmer, in the Matanuska Valley 42 miles northeast of Anchorage, was selected as the site for the primary observatory due to its proximity to bedrock for instrumentation and to communications facilities. Construction of the observatory installations, the task of engineering and assembling the data systems, and the hookup of the extensive telecommunications and data telemetry network was completed in the summer of 1967. With the dedication of the Palmer Observatory on September 2, 1967, the Alaska Regional Tsunami Warning System (ARTWS) became operational.

Originally, the tsunami warning responsibility for Alaska was shared by the three observatories located at Palmer, Adak and Sitka. Sitka, a seismological observatory since 1904, and Fairbanks were the only two seismic stations operating in Alaska in 1964. The responsibilities of Adak and Sitka were limited to issuing a tsunami warning for events occurring within 300 miles of their location. In later years, the responsibility to provide tsunami warning services for Alaska was transferred from the Adak and Sitka observatories to the Palmer Observatory. Sitka and Adak Observatories were eventually closed in the early 1990’s, although the seismic instrumentation is still maintained.

In 1973, the Palmer Observatory was transferred to the National Weather Service’s Alaska Region and changed its name to Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (ATWC). In 1982, its area of responsibility (AOR) was enlarged to include the issuing of tsunami warnings to California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia for potential tsunamigenic earthquakes occurring in their coastal areas. In 1996, the responsibility was again expanded to include all Pacific-wide tsunamigenic sources that could affect the California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska coasts, and the name was changed to the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (WC/ATWC) to reflect those new responsibilities.

Figure 2. West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center

In 2003, a new Tsunami Warning Center building was constructed in the yard of the original building. This new facility was the first LEED certified building in the state of Alaska, and within the U.S. Department of Commerce. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification is granted by the U.S. Green Building Council, and awards environmentally sensitive construction practices. This new facility provides upgraded power and communications capability, as well as office space for the expanded staff, assuring that the center will continue to provide quality products to the public well into the future.

Following the devastating Indian Ocean Tsunami in late 2004, the WC/ATWC expanded its scope to the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Atlantic coast of Canada.