Alaska
A judge has thrown out a key part of Alaska’s homeschool system. Here’s what to know.
A Superior Court judge in Anchorage has found a key benefit to families who choose certain types of homeschool violates the state Constitution. The ruling has to do with correspondence school allotments. Those are cash payments to families of homeschooled children meant to reimburse the cost of things like textbooks, services and even private school classes.
Here’s what to know.
What does this ruling say?
The ruling recaps the case so far and the laws at issue.
In January 2023, four parents of school-age children sued, challenging the constitutionality of a 2014 law “authorizing school districts with correspondence programs to provide an annual student allotment to a parent or guardian of a student enrolled in the correspondence study program for the purpose of meeting instructional expenses for the student.”
The law allows families to purchase “nonsectarian services and materials” from public sources, like school districts, in addition to “private or religious organization(s).” The purchases have to be approved by the school district and abide by state standards, including by coming up with an Individual Learning Plan. The allotments can be up to $4,500 per student per school year.
Judge Adolf Zeman found that system unconstitutional. He found that it violates Article 7 of the Alaska Constitution, which says, in part, “No money shall be paid from public funds for the direct benefit of any religious or private educational institution.” Basically, the allotments are paid to parents, some of whom spend them on private school courses — and that’s unconstitutional, according to the ruling.
And the judge didn’t just invalidate spending on private or religious schools — he found that there was no way to narrow the law enough to be constitutional and tossed out the whole correspondence school allotment system. So providing allotments to buy textbooks, public school courses, activities — all of that is now invalidated, as is the law that lays out what an individual learning plan is.
“If the legislature believes these expenditures are necessary — then it is up to them to craft constitutional legislation to serve that purpose — that is not this Court’s role,” wrote Judge Zeman, who was appointed to the bench in 2020 by Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
How did this system come about?
Basically, the allotment system is an effort to give students and families more choices over their education.
In the ruling, Zeman reaches back to legislative debate that began just over 11 years ago in 2013. Then-Sen. Mike Dunleavy sponsored the bill, and he pitched it to lawmakers alongside a constitutional amendment, appearing to acknowledge that the Alaska Constitution doesn’t allow public money to be spent on private school classes.
“A parent could decide, ‘I want my child to take a Latin course at Monroe Catholic.’ The teacher could agree to that in the ILP. Currently, we cannot do that under the state of, under the current constitutional language,” Dunleavy said in his initial presentation of Senate Bill 100. Language from that bill was later incorporated into House Bill 278, which passed into law in 2014.
Of course, correspondence learning and homeschool have a long history in Alaska. Prior to 2014, said Lon Garrison of the Association of Alaska School Boards, correspondence students would learn from curriculum provided by their local district or a statewide homeschool program.
That changed with the allotment program, Garrison said.
“It gave that opportunity for parents to really kind of determine what they wanted in terms of curricular material and instructional materials,” Garrison said.
But what allotments were spent on changed over time, said Scott Kendall, an attorney representing the plaintiffs. Around 2020 or 2021, he said, private schools began promoting the idea of dual enrollment, essentially using the allotments for private school tuition.
“In fact, you would enroll in a private school, and they would enroll you in the correspondence program, and you would basically just submit your tuition bills as those were, in fact, expenses related to correspondence school, or homeschooling, and then you get paid back,” Kendall said.
Jodi Taylor, the wife of Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor, wrote an op-ed in the Anchorage Daily News detailing exactly how parents could use the correspondence school program to pay for private school tuition. She used a private Catholic elementary school as an example.
A few months later, Treg Tayor issued an opinion saying that allotments could likely be spent constitutionally on private or religious school classes, but could likely not be used to pay for full-time enrollment in a private school.
Proponents, including Jodi Taylor in her op-ed, say the system gives families the choice to pursue the education they want for their children. Attorney Kirby West of the Institute for Justice, which argued in favor of the allotment program, said parents use their allotments for all manner of things.
“Online courses through public universities is a really common one, to either supplement homeschooling curriculum, or just standalone enrollment in college courses from public universities. Many, many parents do use the allotment for tuition at private school,” West said, including her clients, who she said use it for tuition at a Catholic school in Anchorage.
What are people saying about the ruling?
Unsurprisingly, the plaintiffs say the judge’s ruling is sound. And the judge actually went further than Kendall asked. He asked them to invalidate spending on private or religious schools, and the judge said there’s no way to make the rest of the law constitutional and threw the whole program out.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Treg Taylor says the ruling is flawed.
“I don’t agree with the logic that he applied to the ruling,” Taylor said. “He made two statutes completely unconstitutional, which I think was unnecessary. And so I think he, his decision went overboard in what I think was within the law.”
He said the issue has his and Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s attention, and they’re seeking a stay and an appeal. He declined to say whether public money should be spent on private or religious schools.
In a prepared statement, the head of the Department of Law’s Civil Division, Cori Mills, said the ruling is “very concerning.”
“This is a public school program for public school children. This could result in taking away important public education opportunities from Alaskan families. We are evaluating next options,” Mills said through a spokesperson.
Kirby West, the Institute for Justice attorney, says they also plan to appeal it to the Alaska Supreme Court. She said the allotments aren’t a “direct benefit” to a private or religious school described in the Constitution — they’re payments that parents can spend on all manner of things.
“If the state, for example, created a program that was giving a monthly allowance to people to purchase food, no one would think right that that is a direct benefit for Walmart, or Fred Meyer or another grocery store, because the state doesn’t know how people are going to spend their money,” West said. “They don’t know what they’re going to buy or where they’re going to buy it.”
Basically, the people getting the “direct benefit” are the parents — not private or religious schools.
How are lawmakers reacting?
Leaders in the state House and Senate say they’re considering their next steps. Kendall says the solution could be simple — because the constitutional issue has to do with private and religious schools, he said lawmakers could simply pass a bill that says allotments can’t be used at those kinds of schools.
And it’s early, but the ruling has policymakers’ attention. Speaker of the House Rep. Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, said her Republican-led majority caucus wants to address the issue.
“It will be a high priority,” she said. “We’ll be talking about it as a full caucus here in the next day or two to find our path forward.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, a self-described “veteran homeschool mom” who co-sponsored the allotments bill alongside Dunleavy, said the judge got it right.
“I actually think it was a really sound decision,” Giessel said. “When I realized last summer that promotional statements were being made about how to apply these allotments, that this had gone way beyond what I had pictured when the bill was on the floor in 2014.”
And Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, a co-chair of the House Education Committee, said the Legislature should act “this session, in my opinion.”
“I think there’s some concerns with how some of the funds were used, but overall, I support correspondence schools in the state,” Ruffridge said. “I think there should be allotments for those kids to be able to use and go to school with. so I think there needs to be some work done to make sure that that can continue.”
Asked whether he believes it’s appropriate for allotments to be spent on classes through private or religious schools, Ruffridge said flatly, “No.”
Rep. Dan Ortiz, I-Ketchikan, said the judge’s ruling is “an accurate interpretation” of the state Constitution and said he believes the House’s largely Democratic and independent minority caucus would support legislation that would make the program constitutional.
“I think we’re going to be supportive of trying to come up with a solution that works with the Constitution and that protects, continues to provide the opportunity for students to receive their schooling through correspondence,” Ortiz said.
And Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, said he believed the Legislature could pass language fixing the constitutional issues with the allotment system alongside a broader, long-term school funding increase.
“I think any opportunity we can find to increase the (base student allocation), without compromising Alaska’s constitution or good education system, we should take,” Kiehl said. “I think that if there needs to be a bill, to keep a strong correspondence, homeschool support system, that’s another great opportunity to fix that problem while we fix the funding.”
So, while there seems to be broad agreement that the issue should be fixed, when and how to do so seems to be an open question.
What does this mean for parents and students, and what lies ahead?
Those are both very hard to answer at this point, but the changes are not expected to take effect this school year. The administration says there are about 24,000 students who could be affected by the ruling. Education Commissioner Deena Bishop said she plans to send a letter to school districts with more details of the road ahead, but she said the plan for now is to stay the course.
“I will be sending out a letter today to all school districts with some direction,” Bishop said. “At this point, we’d like them to continue to finish out the year as they’ve been working.”
Kendall says the plaintiffs plan to seek a stay, putting the ruling on hold, until the end of the fiscal year in June in order not to disrupt the school year and allow time for an expedited appeal to the Alaska Supreme Court. The Institute for Justice is asking for a longer stay, according to a filing from Kendall, who said the plaintiffs will oppose the longer hold on the decision. The state also plans to appeal, the governor said in a social media post.
The appeal, though, could take a while — months or years.
From our collaborating partner “Living on Earth,” public radio’s environmental news magazine, an interview by host Steve Curwood with Alannah Hurley, executive director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay.
In 2001, a Canadian mining company proposed a massive gold and copper mine at the headwaters of Bristol Bay, a pristine water system on the coast of the Alaska Peninsula that’s home to the largest sockeye salmon run in the world. The salmon support a thriving ecosystem and are a cultural and economic lifeblood for native Alaskans, who have stewarded the land and water for thousands of years.
As the company moved ahead with plans to build the largest open-pit mine in North America, those Indigenous communities joined together to bring it to a halt. In 2023, they secured a rare “EPA veto” of the proposed Pebble Mine, and the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize for North America recognizes an Indigenous leader in this fight.
Alannah Hurley is the executive director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay. Her Yup’ik name is Acaq, her great-grandmother’s name. She is the winner of the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize for North America. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
STEVE CURWOOD: Before we start talking about your work protecting Bristol Bay, paint us a picture of the bay. What makes this such a special place?
ALANNAH HURLEY: Bristol Bay is an extremely special place. It has all the different types of terrain in Alaska, in one place. Where I live, at the mouth of the Nushagak and Wood River, we have everything from tundra and wetlands to mountains, freshwater lakes, freshwater rivers, the muddy waters of Nushagak Bay, [and] the beautiful, crystal-clear ocean waters as you go west towards Togiak and Twin Hills. It’s really untouched, pristine beauty—all of Alaska’s majesty in one place. It’s so pristine you can still hunt and fish and pick berries and eat them straight from the land. You can drink right out of the lake and rivers. It’s paradise.
CURWOOD: Bristol Bay has huge environmental significance, but it’s also important to many human communities. I had been told that it produces more than $2 billion of annual revenue from sockeye salmon fishing alone, it’s also an important food source and cultural site for Indigenous communities, First Alaskans. Talk to me about what the bay means to the people in the area.
HURLEY: There are three different Indigenous groups in Bristol Bay—the Yup’ik people, the Dena’ina people, and the Alutiiq people. Our homeland has been stewarded by our people for thousands and thousands of years. They’ve taken care of this place and entrusted it to us. Our lands, our water, and everything that that entails—the salmon, the moose, the caribou, the bears, us, our freshwater fish, our berries, our plants, our medicines—we very much view it as all very connected. Anything that happens to our lands and waters happens to us. It is everything to us. It is the health of our people, physically, culturally, spiritually. It sustains us. It nourishes us. We’re so blessed to be able to live in the ways that our ancestors have lived. That kind of foundation is really critical in understanding our perspective and wanting to protect our home.
CURWOOD: In 2001, the Northern Dynasty Minerals mining company proposed the development of what’s called the Pebble Mine. It would have been the largest open-pit mine on the continent, one of the biggest, I guess, in the whole world. What would have been the environmental impact of such a project?
HURLEY: The environmental impact of the Pebble project would have been devastation. If you look at a map of Bristol Bay, there are two major river systems, the Nushagak and the Kvichak. The Pebble Mine would be located at the connected headwaters of both. You literally could not have picked a poorer location, and in my opinion, it’s [the] creator’s test to the people: What are you going to choose? But you could not have picked a worse location to put a low-grade acid-generating project that would have to store tens of billions of tons of toxic waste in perpetuity.
That picture is not a question of if something will happen, but when, especially in an earthquake-prone zone, and in a very hydrologically interconnected place. They’re like the veins of the bay—all of that water is connected. Our people, very early on, came out opposed to the project, because we knew that it would mean the utter devastation of our watershed, our fishery and our people.
CURWOOD: Some say that there are literally hundreds of billions of dollars worth of copper and gold and other minerals in the area for the Pebble Mine. Sounds like a lot of money, but you didn’t see this as good news for your community if this got developed.
HURLEY: No, we did not. Early on, before we learned about what type of ore it was, where it was located, what it would mean, what the tilings would mean, people were actually excited for some type of diversification of the economy. Fisheries can be pretty volatile, and that’s how a lot of people would survive in the cash economy as commercial fishermen.
But it did not take long to learn about those things, the dangers and the threat and the risk that that would cause to our people, and very early on, the vast majority of Bristol Bay’s people said, “No way, this is not worth the risk.” You cannot put a price tag on our water and what salmon mean to us as a people. This would be an existential threat to our ability to continue to be Indigenous people in this region, and we will not stop fighting until it is stopped.
CURWOOD: My understanding of Alaskan politics is that at the state level, there wasn’t a huge amount of pushback against this Pebble Mine proposal.
HURLEY: Our people’s concerns were really falling on deaf ears at the state level. We saw the state rewrite our area management plan illegally, without proper input or public process or consultation with our tribes. We saw the governor at the time try to pave the way for a mining district, and we’re still working to rectify some of those issues in that rewritten management plan to this day. And we’re still having issues with the state government pushing a project on Bristol Bay and Alaskans that they’ve proven for the last 20 years that they just do not support.
Because our concerns were falling on deaf ears at the state level, our tribal governments saw the federal government as the place to put some energy, and that was where the petition to the EPA came from, because the state was not listening. They were doing the exact opposite, to really grease the skids for the company to move forward.
CURWOOD: How did the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency respond?
HURLEY: The tribes petitioned in 2010 to prohibit all mines like Pebble within the Bristol Bay watershed. The EPA came back and said, “We’re not going to act on a prohibition immediately under our authority under the Clean Water Act, but we are going to study Bristol Bay. We want to do an assessment. And we want to ask, is this place really unique, and what does this fishery mean to the state and people? If this type of development, large-scale hard rock mining, were to move forward, what kind of impact could that have on the waters and people?”
They took three years to do a bunch of studies. They were in a lot of different communities. There was a lot of peer review to answer those questions, and after that very long, drawn-out assessment, they determined what our people had been saying all along: that this type of development would devastate the water and everyone who was sustained by that water, and so that was really the basis for their action that came later.
CURWOOD: At the end of the day, how did things turn out with the EPA?
HURLEY: It was a bit of a roller coaster between the different administrations, but it’s really a testament to the dedication of our people and our region that regardless of the administration, regardless of winning and losing court cases, they did not give up. And so the EPA, in January 2023, finalized protections to stop the project.
CURWOOD: What’s the risk that the Trump administration number two could reverse all of that?
HURLEY: There is very much still a risk that that could happen. The company,Northern Dynasty, the state of Alaska and a few others have challenged the EPA protections in court, which we anticipated they would.
So far, the Trump administration has continued to defend [the] EPA’s action in court, but that is ongoing litigation, and we’re not putting all of our eggs in that basket with how unpredictable this administration has been in other arenas. We’re definitely remaining extremely vigilant. And we’re continuing to defend the protections in court, and we also are working on legislation that would address the other 20 active mining claims throughout the watershed.
While we’ve made great progress, unfortunately, Pebble isn’t the only mining claim in the region, and so we’re working really hard to put this type of development to bed for good, so that our kids aren’t destined to fight project by project, now into eternity.
CURWOOD: As executive director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay, how important would you say tribal cooperation has been during this fight?
HURLEY: Tribal unity and cooperation has been absolutely critical. I think in any instance where a coalition is working to protect a place, having Indigenous people leading and center of the effort is absolutely critical. Local people need to be at the forefront of these fights, and without that unity in the bay, there’s no way we would be where we’re at today.
This story is funded by readers like you.
Our nonprofit newsroom provides award-winning climate coverage free of charge and advertising. We rely on donations from readers like you to keep going. Please donate now to support our work.
Donate Now
CURWOOD: You were involved in building that coalition, including Native Alaskans, but also other political constituencies, the commercial fisherpeople and such. What was it like to build a coalition like that?
HURLEY: In the case of United Tribes of Bristol Bay, it was really about centering and amplifying the tribal voice and holding the government accountable for government-to-government consultation. There was real unity in that.
I think anytime you’re building a coalition, it can be challenging. I mean, it’s hard to get five people to agree to where you’re going to go to dinner, let alone 15 tribal governments from different cultural backgrounds who historically didn’t always get along, coming together to fight a common enemy for our continued existence as Indigenous people. That threat really brought us all together in ways that we had never seen before, and that also translated out to non-native groups, commercial fishermen, the conservation community. These aren’t people who usually get along. We’re used to fighting over fish, not working together to protect them, and so anytime you bring different groups together, there’s going to be bumps in the road.
At the end of the day, the connections between people, the relationships and the commitment to work [got us] through hard moments—and there were a lot of hard moments. A commitment, especially by non-native folks, to be in a respectful relationship with native people and us having that requirement that if we are going to be partners, this is how we expect to engage, helped lay the groundwork for a successful coalition. That’s never easy, it’s never pretty, but it was really the people-to-people relationships, those connections, that held us together even in the hard times.
CURWOOD: You’ve spoken about your grandmother’s influence and the values that propelled you through this journey. What lessons have you learned that have motivated you to keep going?
HURLEY: My grandmother was Mancuaq; I was raised with her in Clark’s Point in Bristol Bay. And it’s hard for me not to get emotional talking about her, because even now, even in all the different experiences in my life, everything important, the most important things that have helped me navigate life in a way that has been good and, you know, really grounded in love and respect and kindness came from her. Also the ability to persevere when things are tough. She passed away in 2019.
I obviously still miss her a lot. She provided me with the foundation of values, of how to move forward and live in this world in a good way. Our people have had those teachings for centuries—timeless, timeless teachings of what it means to be a good, real human being on the planet. And that foundation has helped me in life in invaluable and countless ways, and it continues to do so every day.
CURWOOD: What do you see for the future of Bristol Bay?
HURLEY: The future of Bristol Bay is beautiful. We are still struggling with the impacts of colonization, but we have only begun our healing, our reclamation, our revitalization of who we are as Indigenous people.
We have been so lucky that even through all of those challenges, our people have been able to remember and retain and still pass on our values and way of life. I feel like the potential to be a model of sustainability for the world led by Indigenous communities in modern society is boundless, and I’m really excited and hopeful that our region can shift from having to put our energy in defense of our homelands, to now help build something beautiful and tackle some of the tough issues that we’re facing.
About This Story
Perhaps you noticed: This story, like all the news we publish, is free to read. That’s because Inside Climate News is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. We do not charge a subscription fee, lock our news behind a paywall, or clutter our website with ads. We make our news on climate and the environment freely available to you and anyone who wants it.
That’s not all. We also share our news for free with scores of other media organizations around the country. Many of them can’t afford to do environmental journalism of their own. We’ve built bureaus from coast to coast to report local stories, collaborate with local newsrooms and co-publish articles so that this vital work is shared as widely as possible.
Two of us launched ICN in 2007. Six years later we earned a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, and now we run the oldest and largest dedicated climate newsroom in the nation. We tell the story in all its complexity. We hold polluters accountable. We expose environmental injustice. We debunk misinformation. We scrutinize solutions and inspire action.
Donations from readers like you fund every aspect of what we do. If you don’t already, will you support our ongoing work, our reporting on the biggest crisis facing our planet, and help us reach even more readers in more places?
Please take a moment to make a tax-deductible donation. Every one of them makes a difference.
Thank you,
We are reviving Curious Alaska, a popular feature launched by the Anchorage Daily News in 2021.
The idea is simple: You have questions. Our reporters find answers. We share them with readers.
Maybe you’re curious about a landmark (like the Parks Highway Igloo, pictured below), or a tradition, a news event or a public figure from the past. Maybe you have a practical question about everyday life in Alaska.
On our initial run, we tackled more than 30 topics that readers inquired about.
Some examples of reader questions we’ve looked into so far include why we don’t have a Trader Joe’s here, whether there are snakes in Alaska, why sand dunes exist in Kincaid Park and the story behind cattle herds on remote islands in the state.
No topic is too offbeat for you to pitch. We’ll choose a question at a time and try our best to answer it. Send in yours using the form below. (Having trouble seeing the form? Try here.)
Science news, night sky events and beautiful photos, all in one place. Click here to subscribe to EarthSky’s free daily newsletter.
- A megatsunami is an incredibly large wave of about 100 meters (328 ft) or more. These huge waves are often triggered by events such as landslides.
- In August 2025, a megatsunami in Alaska happened when a landslide entered a fjord next to South Sawyer Glacier. The event generated a wave 1,580 feet (481 meters) high.
- Scientists believe a warning system could help alert any people in the area. It would be based on seismic activity in the area.
By Michael E. West, University of Alaska Fairbanks and Ezgi Karasözen, University of Alaska Fairbanks
2025 Alaska megatsunami shows need for warning system
On the evening of August 9, 2025, passengers on the Hanse Explorer yacht finished taking selfies and videos of Alaska’s South Sawyer Glacier, and the ship headed back down the fjord. Twelve hours later, a landslide from the adjacent mountain unexpectedly collapsed into the fjord, initiating the second-highest tsunami in recorded history.
We conduct research on earthquakes and tsunamis at the Alaska Earthquake Center. And one of us serves as Alaska state seismologist. In a new study with colleagues, we detail how that landslide sent water and debris 1,580 feet (481 meters) up the other side of the fjord. That’s higher than the top floor of the Taipei 101 skyscraper. And then the tsunami continued down Tracy Arm. The force of the water stripped the fjord’s walls down to bare rock.
The 2025 Alaska megatsunami
It was just after 5 o’clock in the morning on a dreary day. And fortunately, no ships were nearby. In the months after, some cruise lines started avoiding Tracy Arm. However, the conditions that led to this event are not at all unique to this fjord.
Landslides are common in the coastal mountains of Alaska. In these areas, rapid uplift – caused by tectonic forces and long-term ice loss – converges with the erosive forces of precipitation and moving glaciers. But a curious pattern has emerged in recent years: Multiple major landslides have occurred precisely at the terminus (end point) of a retreating glacier.
Though the mechanics are still poorly understood, these mountains appear to become unstable when the ice disappears. When the landslide hits the water, the momentum of millions of tons of rock is transferred into tsunami waves.
This same phenomenon is playing out from Alaska to Greenland and Norway, sometimes with deadly consequences. Across the Arctic, countries are trying to come to terms with this growing hazard. The options are not attractive: avoid vast swaths of coastline, or live with a poorly understood risk. We believe there is an obvious role for alert systems. But only if scientists have a better understanding of where and when landslides are likely to occur.
Signs that a landslide might be coming
The Tracy Arm landslide is a powerful example.
The landslide occurred in August, when warm ocean waters and heavier precipitation favor both glacier retreat and slope failure. The glacier below the landslide area had experienced rapid calving: large chunks of ice breaking off and falling into the water. And it had retreated more than a third of a mile in the two months prior. Heavy rain had been falling. Rain enters fractures in the mountain and pushes them closer to failure by increasing the water pressure in cracks.
Most provocative are the thousands of small seismic tremors that emanated from the area of the slide in the days prior to the mountainside collapsing.
We believe that this combination of signs would have been sufficient to issue progressive alerts to any ships in the vicinity and homes and businesses that could have been harmed by a tsunami at least a day prior to the failure … had a monitoring program existed.
Escalating alerts are used for everything from terrorism and nuclear plant safety to avalanches and volcanic unrest. They don’t remove the risk. But they do make it easier for people to safely coexist with hazards.
For example, though people are still killed in avalanches, alert systems have played an essential role in making winter backcountry travel safer for more people. The collapse at Tracy Arm demonstrates what could be possible for landslides.
What an alert system could look like
We believe that the combination of weather and rapid glacier retreat in early August 2025 was likely sufficient to issue an alert notifying people that the hazard may be temporarily elevated in a general area. On a yellow-orange-red scale, this would be a yellow alert.
In the hours prior to the landslide, the exponential increase in seismic events and telltale transition to what is known as seismic tremor – a continuous “hum” of seismic energy – were sufficient to communicate a time-sensitive warning for a specific region.
These observations, recorded as a byproduct of regional earthquake monitoring, warranted an “orange” alert noting immediate concern. The signs were arguably sufficient to recommend keeping boats and ships out of the fjord.
Alerts are possible
Our research over the past few years has demonstrated that once a large landslide has started, it is possible to detect and measure the event within a couple of minutes. In this amount of time, seismic waves in the surrounding area can indicate the rough size of the landslide and whether it occurred near open water.
A monitoring program that could quickly communicate this would be able to issue a red alert, signaling an event in progress.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s tsunami warning program has spent decades fine-tuning rapid message dissemination. A warning system would have offered little help for ships in the immediate vicinity, but it could have provided perhaps 10 minutes of warning for those who rode out the harrowing tsunami farther away.
There is no landslide monitoring system operating yet at this scale in the U.S. Building one will require cooperation across state and federal agencies, and strengthened monitoring and communication networks. Even then, it will not be fail-proof.
Understanding risk, not removing it
Alert systems do not remove the risk entirely, but they are a better option than no warning at all. Over time, they also build awareness as communities and visitors get used to thinking about these hazards.
Many of the most alluring places on Earth come with significant hazards. Arctic fjords are among them. The same processes that create this hazard – glacier retreat, steep terrain, dynamic geology – are also what make these landscapes so compelling. The mix of glaciers, ice-choked waters and steep mountains is exactly what draws people to these places. People will continue to visit and experience them.
The question is not whether these places should be avoided altogether, but how to help people make more informed decisions. We believe that stronger geophysical and meteorological monitoring, coupled with new research and communication channels, is the first step.
On August 9, visitors unknowingly passed through a landscape on the cusp of failure. An alert system might have given tour companies and people in the area the information they needed to make more informed choices and avoid being caught by surprise.
Michael E. West, Director of the Alaska Earthquake Center and State Seismologist, University of Alaska Fairbanks and Ezgi Karasözen, Research Seismologist, Alaska Earthquake Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Bottom line: A 2025 Alaska megatsunami sent a 1,580-foot wave of water up the Tracy Arm fjord. It revealed the need for a landslide-triggered tsunami warning system.
Read more: Landslide-triggered tsunamis becoming more common
-
New York1 hour agoMan Dies in Subway Attack; Mamdani Orders Inquiry Into Suspect’s Release From Bellevue
-
Detroit, MI2 hours agoPatchy dense fog turns to stronger thunderstorms for Metro Detroit to start the weekend
-
San Francisco, CA2 hours agoWhere to watch Pittsburgh Pirates vs San Francisco Giants: TV channel, start time, streaming for May 9
-
Dallas, TX2 hours agoFC Dallas vs Real Salt Lake Preview: Lineups, Storylines & What to Watch
-
Miami, FL2 hours agoMiami Area Gets First New Manufactured Home Community in Decades
-
Boston, MA2 hours agoWhat we know about wrong-way driver killed in head-on collision with state trooper in Lynnfield – The Boston Globe
-
Denver, CO2 hours agoA Frontier plane hits a pedestrian during takeoff at Denver airport
-
Seattle, WA2 hours ago
Where to watch Seattle Mariners vs Chicago White Sox: TV channel, start time, streaming for May 9