Latest news with #Aleutians
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Megatsunami warning: Three US States could face direct impact within 50 years
A groundbreaking study from Virginia Tech, published in the , has issued an urgent warning: within the next 50 years, three U.S. states—Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington—are at significant risk of experiencing catastrophic megatsunamis. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now These colossal waves, potentially reaching up to 1,000 feet, could result from massive earthquakes and geological events, threatening millions of lives and causing unprecedented damage. What is a megatsunami ? A megatsunami is a very large wave created by a large, sudden displacement of material into a body of water. Unlike an ordinary tsunami, a megatsunami is characterized by extremely large wave heights, often hundreds of meters, and is typically caused by massive underwater displacements like large landslides or volcanic eruptions. Megatsunamis can reach wave heights of hundreds of meters and are often triggered by massive underwater events like large landslides, glacier collapses, or meteorite impacts. Megatsunamis can inundate coastal areas much further inland and with greater force than regular tsunamis. In October 1936, a megatsunami occurred in Lituya Bay in Alaska with a maximum run-up height of 150 metres (490 ft) in Crillon Inlet at the head of the bay. The four eyewitnesses to the wave in Lituya Bay itself all survived and described it as between 30 and 76 metres (100 and 250 ft) high. Cascadia Subduction Zone : A ticking time bomb Stretching from Northern California to Vancouver Island, the Cascadia Subduction Zone is a major fault line where the Juan de Fuca Plate is slowly sinking beneath the North American Plate. This tectonic boundary has the potential to produce a magnitude 8.0 or greater earthquake, with scientists estimating a 15% chance of such an event occurring within the next 50 years. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The last significant rupture along this fault occurred in 1700, but the risk remains high. A major earthquake in this region could cause coastal land to sink by up to 6.5 feet, dramatically expanding floodplains and increasing flood risks. The resulting tsunami could send waves up to 40 feet high, devastating communities along the Pacific Northwest coast, including northern California, northern Oregon, and southern Washington. Experts warn that public awareness remains low, and evacuation times could be as short as 10 minutes, leaving little room for escape. Alaska: A double threat from earthquakes and landslides Alaska faces a dual threat from both seismic activity and climate change-induced landslides. The Aleutian Islands, part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, are prone to powerful earthquakes. A study from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa estimates a 9% chance of a magnitude 9.0 or greater earthquake in the Aleutians within the next 50 years. Such an event could generate a mega-tsunami with waves reaching up to 75 feet, impacting coastal communities along the Alaska Peninsula and potentially affecting areas as far away as Hawaii. Additionally, melting glaciers in Alaska are destabilizing slopes, increasing the risk of massive landslides into the ocean. These landslides can displace large volumes of water, generating tsunamis that could inundate nearby coastal areas. The combination of seismic and climatic factors makes Alaska particularly vulnerable to devastating tsunami events. Hawaii: Volcanic collapses pose tsunami risk Hawaii's unique geological features also place it at risk. The Big Island's active volcanoes, such as Kīlauea, are susceptible to flank collapses—massive landslides where large sections of the volcano's flank slide into the ocean. These collapses can displace enormous amounts of water, generating tsunamis that can affect coastal areas of Hawaii. While the probability of such events is lower compared to other regions, the potential impact on Hawaii's densely populated coastal areas makes it a significant concern. Urgent call for preparedness: The study underscores the need for immediate action to prepare for potential mega-tsunamis. Experts advocate for enhanced , improved infrastructure, and public education campaigns to ensure communities are ready to respond effectively. In the Pacific Northwest, for instance, FEMA estimates that a magnitude 9 earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone could result in over 13,000 fatalities and displace more than a million people. Coastal regions must invest in resilient infrastructure, including elevated buildings and tsunami-resistant designs, to withstand the impacts of such disasters. Additionally, updating evacuation plans and conducting regular drills can save lives by ensuring that residents know how to respond quickly and safely. Global implications and climate change considerations: While the immediate focus is on the United States, the global implications of mega-tsunamis are profound. Rising sea levels due to climate change exacerbate the risks associated with these events, as higher ocean levels can increase the extent of flooding and damage. International collaboration in monitoring seismic activity and sharing early warning information is crucial to mitigate the effects of such disasters worldwide. Conclusion: The recent study serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities faced by coastal regions in Alaska, Hawaii, and the Pacific Northwest. With the potential for mega-tsunamis within the next 50 years, these communities must take proactive measures to prepare for such catastrophic events. Through enhanced preparedness, resilient infrastructure, and public awareness, the impact of these disasters can be mitigated, saving lives and protecting livelihoods. As scientists continue to monitor seismic activity and climate change effects, the need for comprehensive disaster planning and international cooperation becomes ever more critical. By learning from past events and investing in future resilience, we can better safeguard our coastal communities against the looming threat of mega-tsunamis. Covid-19 crisis: Goans on a mission to grow more greens, after lockdown blues
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alaska's 'Nazi Creek,' a legacy of World War II, is set for a name change
Apr. 7—This month, state officials voted unanimously to change the names of a creek and a hill on an Aleutian island in response to proposals arguing they were offensive and arbitrary. The features in question are "Nazi Creek," a mile-long stream, and "Nip Hill," a modest summit — both on the southeastern side of Little Kiska Island, beside the bigger, more prominent Kiska Island 242 miles west of Adak at the far end of the Aleutian chain. The move comes after several years of efforts across the country, including in Alaska, to drop words and names with derogatory connections from maps, buildings and civic institutions. Michael Livingston, who submitted the proposals to formally get rid of the existent names, said "Nazi Creek" is particularly offensive given the history of violence that took place during World War II in the Aleutians. "During World War II, the Unangax̂ people — and millions of others — paid dearly due to the actions of Adolf Hitler's Nazis and their Axis powers," Livingston testified during a meeting last Thursday of the Alaska Historical Commission. "After Pearl Harbor was bombed, Dutch Harbor was bombed and 43 Americans were killed in Alaska. Then 881 Unangax̂ people were forcibly relocated. Forty-two people from Attu Village were taken prisoner of war, where 24 died." According to the United States Geological Survey's database of domestic place names, the only geographic feature with "Nazi" in the name is the Aleutian stream on Little Kiska. The term "Nip," Livingston testified, was a derogatory term for Japanese people that came into use during the second World War. It was a derivation of "Nippon," which is the name for Japan in the Japanese language. Livingston is originally from Cold Bay and is a member of the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska. A retired police sergeant, for years he's worked on a number of cartography projects to revise and highlight Unangax̂ history in the U.S. and Alaska. He's also been steadily working to make Alaska maps more accurate. The explanation he's come up with for why a creek and hill on Little Kiska got these names is: expediency. Per the "Dictionary of Alaska Place Names," during World War II the U.S. Army was putting tactical names on geographic features throughout the Aleutians. They did so in grids, and applied an alphabetized naming convention for each square. "Nip" and "Nazi" both started with N. The names were arbitrary, Livingston said in the proposals he submitted, possibly picked by young GIs who had the ongoing war and propaganda front of mind at the time. [The ominous true stories behind Alaska's bloody and brutal place names] His recommendation, adopted 6-0 by the commission, is to give the creek and hill names from Unangam Tunuu, the Indigenous language of the region. Moses Dirks, a member of the Sand Point Village tribe and expert on Unangam Tunuu, recommended renaming the creek "Kaxchim Chiĝanaa" and the hill "Kaxchim Qayaa." The names mean "Gizzard Creek" and "Gizzard Hill" respectively — "Kanchix," or "gizzard," being the traditional name for Little Kiska Island. "A local Indigenous name from people who have lived in the region for thousands of years is more appropriate than the name of Adolf Hitler's murderous Third Reich regime responsible for millions of homicides," states one of the two official name change proposals submitted to the U.S. Geological Survey. Little Kiska is part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, and most of the land is owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Now that the Alaska Historical Commission has supported the name change, the proposal will go on to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, which will decide whether to switch the creek and hill names on federal maps. "The process isn't always entirely step-by-step straightforward ... but in this case it is fairly straightforward," said Katie Ringsmuth, state historian in Alaska's Office of History and Archaeology. If members of the federal board vote to approve the proposals, then federal sources will follow Alaska in renaming the two features in official materials. For years now, and especially following the death of George Floyd and ensuing protests in 2020, Americans have been reconciling with ugly parts of national history and character in skirmishes over place names. Monuments have come down, sports franchises rebranded, schools and institutions renamed. Under the Biden administration, the Interior Department began systematically renaming geographic features — including more than two dozen sites in Alaska — whose titles included a derogatory name for a Native woman. Under the Trump administration, there's been a push to halt or reverse some of those renaming efforts, including restoring the name Bragg to a North Carolina military base and ordering that the name of North America's tallest mountain revert to McKinley from its Koyukon-Athabascan name, Denali.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Earthquake activity in Alaska quieted a bit in 2024, but more landslides are being tracked
Seismic events that struck Alaska and neighboring areas in 2024 are shown in this map. Although there were fewer events than in preceding years, Alaska remains one of the world's most seismically active regions, and there were nearly 40,000 events throughout the year (Map provided by the Alaska Earthquake Center/University of Alaska Fairbanks) Alaska, one of the world's most seismically active locations, just completed a relatively quiet year for earthquakes but a busy year for landslides in the Southcentral region, according to an annual report issued by seismic experts at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. There were 39,836 seismic events in Alaska and nearby regions in 2024, according to the Alaska Earthquake Center's newly released 2024 Alaska Seismicity Summary. That is about 5,700 fewer than in 2023 and about 15,000 fewer than in 2018, when a record was set, according to the center. Still, there were 50 quakes of magnitude 5.0 or greater, equating to about one a week, the center said. Seismic events are defined as earthquakes or any other earth-shaking phenomena. The year's seismic record was notable because, for the first time since the major Nov. 30, 2018, earthquake that damaged the Anchorage and Matanuska-Susitna Borough areas, there were no detected aftershocks from that magnitude-7.1 event, the center said. There were, however, more than 1,000 aftershocks throughout the year from the magnitude-7.8 Simeonof earthquake that struck on July 21, 2020, off the Alaska Peninsula, the report said. The most powerful of those was measured at magnitude 5.6. The most powerful earthquakes in 2024 were two magnitude-6.3 events that occurred as part of a swarm of quakes that struck the central Aleutians in early December, the report said. The first of the magnitude-6.3 quakes occurred on Dec. 8 in the Andreanof Islands region, and the second occurred the following day, the report said. While there were fewer earthquakes detected in 2024 than in past years, a relatively new effort at the center has resulted in stepped-up monitoring of landslides in a region considered to be at elevated risk: Prince William Sound. That program uses an array of instruments to track the seismic signals of landslides, which are different from those produced by earthquakes. Seismic detections of landslides are followed by visual confirmation, under the new system. In 2024, the monitoring system identified 31 landslides, including some events that produced localized tsunamis. Five separate landslides occurred within the span of about an hour on Sept. 20 at Surprise Glacier, which is near Harriman Fjord in Prince William Sound. Together, they produced over 3.5 million cubic meters of debris, or 4.6 million cubic yards, the report said. They also produced a small but measurable tsunami, at 4 centimeters, or a little over 1.5 inches, the report said. These were the first Prince William Sound landslides with debris that reached the water since dedicated instrument-based landslide monitoring in the region started in 2020, the report said. A more significant tsunami resulted from an Aug. 7 landslide at Pederson Lagoon southwest of Seward. It dumped about 2 million cubic meters of material and generated a localized tsunami of about 17 meters, or nearly 56 feet, that damaged boardwalks at a local lodge and reached a Kenai National Park campsite, the report said. Another cluster of landslides detected by the instruments was at Denali National Park and Preserve, the report said. Other slides were detected elsewhere in Southcentral Alaska, mostly in coastal regions,. The landslide monitoring program is still being developed, said Elisabeth Nadin of the Alaska Earthquake Center. The hope is to have a landslide-related tsunami warning system, she said. The seismic-detection program is limited to an approximately 200-mile radius, so it does not cover the vast majority of Southeast Alaska. It was not used for the Aug. 25 Ketchikan landslide that killed one person, injured three others and damaged several houses. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
