This lab is key for tracking deadly waves. Its sensors are about to go offline.

After NOAA cut funding to the lab that's been monitoring seismic activity for more than 25 years, nine stations tracking tsunami-causing earthquakes for the agency will go offline by the end of the month.

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Michael West, director of the Alaska Earthquake Center and the state's seismologist, contacted NOAA on Sept. 23 asking if the expected Oct. 1 federal funding of about $300,000 would come through. He was told a week later - one day before the deadline - that the agency would not be able to continue the grant this year, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post, citing a lack of available funding.

While NOAA says the funding ended in FY 2024, the AEC says they weren't informed of this and hadn't been informed of any lapse in funding until September. Meanwhile, AEC says they did receive money they were able to use for 2025.

"The AEC is one of many partners supporting the National Weather Service's tsunami operations, and NWS continues to use many mechanisms to ensure the collection of seismic data across the state of Alaska," NOAA spokeswoman Kim Doster told The Post in a statement.

The lack of funding could have widespread repercussions for the entire Pacific coast and poses safety concerns for remote communities living on these Alaskan islands who rely on the speedy warnings made possible from this data, according to local leaders and seismologists. As part of its mission to understand and predict changes to the weather and the oceans, NOAA typically alerts a tsunami within five minutes of an earthquake - a task that will be more challenging as the sensors go dark.

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