Baranof island’s Mount Edgecumbe volcanic cone rises 3,200 ft from the ocean close to Sitka. (Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska Information)
Seismologists have detected some uncommon exercise under the long-dormant Mt. Edgecumbe volcano close to Sitka.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory experiences {that a} swarm of small earthquakes occurred someplace deep under the mountain starting on Monday — but it surely’s too early to inform if that alerts an eruption might be on the best way.
Nonetheless, Jacyn Schmidt, the geoscience coordinator on the Sitka Sound Science Heart, mentioned residents shouldn’t be too alarmed proper now.
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“We’re a great distance off from an imminent eruption, or an eruption in any respect,” she mentioned.
Mt. Edgecumbe’s final main eruption was 4,500 years in the past. It’s just some miles from the Queen Charlotte Fault, the place the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate are slipping in reverse instructions on the charge of about 2 inches per 12 months. So there’s all the time lots of bizarre, background tectonic exercise within the space.
However the swarm on Monday was out of the bizarre.
“What kind of makes this present little bit of exercise completely different is that there have been some bigger earthquakes in type of the magnitude-2 vary which are locatable, but additionally many, many which are too small to be situated,” mentioned Dave Schneider, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Alaska Volcano Observatory in Anchorage.
The swarm consisted of those bigger magnitude 2 quakes accompanied by lots of of smaller ones — all comparatively shallow, at round 5 to 10 kilometers under sea degree.
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Most collection of earthquakes begin with a bigger earthquake — a mainshock — which is adopted by a collection of smaller earthquakes known as aftershocks. When a collection of earthquakes has no clear mainshock that set it off, it’s usually described as a swarm.
The overwhelming majority of the earthquakes on this swarm have been too small to be felt, although Sitka is just about 12 miles away from the crater. However some have been robust sufficient to be situated precisely with seismic stations in Sitka and elsewhere in Alaska.
“A two is a good-sized, rock-breaking earthquake at a volcano, but additionally nothing that’s going to make your jaw drop and be actually alarmed both,” Schneider mentioned.
Schneider says the swarm has tapered off a bit, which is an effective factor. However that doesn’t imply the occasion is over. He says that within the medical world, they name it watchful ready.
“Seismic swarms of volcanoes can wax and wane,” he mentioned. “I imply, they will begin off with a bang and type of fizzle out, they will type of begin with a with a whimper and enhance, or they will type of oscillate backwards and forwards. And so, we’re simply going to be in a interval of simply watching and type of seeing what’s happening.”
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When she heard from a neighborhood member that there was a quake under Mt. Edgecumbe, she mentioned, she known as the USGS and realized concerning the swarm, even earlier than the Alaska Volcano Observatory issued its preliminary report.
“I had been speaking to seismologists there who assured me that the earthquakes have been very small,” she mentioned, “which is true, but it surely’s uncommon for them to be taking place beneath Mt. Edgecumbe within the sample that they’re seeing now.”
Schmidt considers Mt. Edgecumbe an thrilling analysis alternative. There aren’t any concrete plans but, however she hopes the Science Heart can help the USGS with native monitoring of the volcano.
Dave Schneider shares Schmidt’s enthusiasm. There are 90 volcanoes in Alaska, 4 of that are presently erupting alongside the Aleutian chain. There’s even one other seismic swarm occurring on the Davidoff volcano, far out within the chain.
If the exercise is tied Mt. Edgecumbe, Schneider says that wouldn’t be all that uncommon.
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“The very best case state of affairs for everybody — should you don’t like eruptions — is that’s {that a} dies out,” he mentioned.
One other chance is extra interesting to followers of eruptions, and it doesn’t essentially imply catastrophe.
“The oral custom is that 800 years in the past, there was some exercise, but it surely was minor,” Schneider mentioned. “So should you take a look at the large scale of volcanic exercise, minor exercise is far more widespread than huge exercise.”
Schneider says that the Alaska Volcano Observatory will maintain greater than an eye fixed on Mt. Edgecumbe. Satellite tv for pc radar knowledge assortment is already underway to observe the crater for deformation, within the occasion that magma or hydrothermal fluids trigger the mountain to bulge.
Schneider says different indicators that would sign a potential future eruption would extra earthquakes, bigger earthquakes or gasoline emissions.
Last week, Superior Court Judge Andrew Guidi indicated he will rule that Alaska does not have authority to permit access across its lands to facilitate oil and gas development on the North Slope.
The Alaska Dept. of Natural Resources plans to fight and appeal any final adverse ruling that undermines the state’s constitutional interests in resource development.
The Department of Natural Resources has issued a permit allowing Oil Search Alaska (OSA) to cross the Kuparuk River Unit, operated by Conoco Phillips Alaska, to develop the Pikka Unit. As described in the State’s brief to the court, “the denial of such access implicates the delay of development of millions of barrels of oil and billions of dollars of public revenues.”
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ALASKA WATCHMAN DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX
“The State of Alaska has a constitutional obligation to maximize the development of our resources,” DNR Commissioner John Boyle said on Nov. 22. “We have to confirm with the Supreme Court that we have the authority to permit access for all developers to ensure we can meet this obligation.”
Once the Superior Court issues the final judgement, Alaska will be able to file its appeal. This is expected to occur in the coming weeks.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – For Juneau resident Tamara Roberts, taking photos of the northern lights was just a hobby — that is until a different light altogether caught her eye.
Capturing what she’s called strange lights in the skies of Juneau near her home on Thunder Mountain, Roberts said she’s taken 30 to 40 different videos and photos of the lights since September 2021.
“Anytime I’m out, I’m pretty sure that I see something at least a couple times a week,” Roberts said. “I’m definitely not the only one that’s seeing them. And if people just pay more attention, they’ll notice that those aren’t stars and those aren’t satellites.”
Roberts has been a professional photographer for over 20 years. She said she changed interests from photographing people to wildlife and landscape when she moved to Juneau 13 years ago.
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Once she started making late-night runs trying to capture the northern lights, she said that’s when she started encountering her phenomenon.
Roberts said not every encounter takes place above Thunder Mountain: her most recent sighting happened near the Mendenhall Glacier while her stepmom was visiting from Arizona.
“She’d never been here before, so we got up and we drove up there, and lo and behold, there it was,” Roberts said. “I have some family that absolutely thinks it’s what it is, and I have some family that just doesn’t care.”
Roberts described another recent encounter near the glacier she said was a little too close for comfort. While driving up alone in search of the northern lights, she expected to see other fellow photographers out for the same reason as she normally does.
But this night was different.
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“I’ve gone up there a million times by myself, and this night, particularly, it was clear, it was cold and the [aurora] KP index was high … so as I’m driving up and there’s nobody there. And I was like, Okay, I’ll just wait and somebody will show up.’ So I backed up into the parking spot underneath the street light — the only light that’s really there on that side of the parking lot — and I turned all my lights off, left my car running, looked around, and there was that light right there, next to the mountain.”
Roberts said after roughly 10 minutes of filming the glowing light, still not seeing anyone else around, she started to get a strange feeling that maybe she should leave.
“I just got this terrible gut feeling,” Roberts said. “I started to pull out of my parking spot and my car sputtered. [It] scared me so bad that I just gunned the accelerator, but my headlights … started like flashing and getting all crazy.
“I had no headlights, none all the way home, no headlights.”
According to the Juneau Police Department, there haven’t been any reports of strange lights in the sky since Sept. 14, when police say a man was reportedly “yelling about UFOs in the downtown area.”
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Responding officers said they did not locate anything unusual, and no arrests were made following the man’s report.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Weather Service in Juneau also said within the last seven days, no reports of unusual activity in the skies had been reported. The Federal Aviation Administration in Juneau did not respond.
With more and more whistleblowers coming forward in Congressional hearings, Roberts said she thinks it’s only a matter of time before the truth is out there.
“Everybody stayed so quiet all these years for the fear of being mocked,” Roberts said. “Now that people are starting to come out, I think that people should just let the reality be what it is, and let the evidence speak for itself, because they’re here, and that’s all there is to it.”
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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Heading into Friday’s game with a 6-1 record, Alaska Anchorage women’s basketball is faced with a tall task.
The Seawolves are set to face Division I Troy in the opening round of the 2024 Great Alaska Shootout. Friday’s game is the first meeting between the two in program history.
“We’re gonna get after it, hopefully it goes in the hoop for us,” Seawolves head coach Ryan McCarthy said. “We’re gonna do what we do. We’re not going to change it just because it’s a shootout. We’re going to press these teams and we’re going to try to make them uncomfortable. We’re excited to test ourselves.”
Beginning the season 1-4, the Trojans have faced legitimate competition early. Troy has played two ranked opponents to open the season, including the 2023 national champion and current top-10 ranked Louisiana State University on Nov. 18. The Trojans finished runner-up in the Sun Belt Conference with a 15-3 record last season.
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“At the end of the day, they’re women’s basketball players too. They’re the same age as us and they might look bigger, faster and stronger, but we have some great athletes here,” junior guard Elaina Mack said. “We’re more disciplined, we know that we put in a lot of work, and we have just as good of a chance to win this thing as anybody else does.”
The 41st edition of the tournament is also set to feature Vermont and North Dakota State. The two Div. I squads will battle first ahead of UAA’s match Friday night.
All teams will also play Saturday in a winner and loser bracket to determine final results.
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