USGS earthquake scientists to brief Alaska seismic commission Aug. 13 in Anchorage

Three specialists from the U.S. Geological Survey's Geologic Hazards Science Center are scheduled to present to the Alaska Seismic Hazards Safety Commission on Aug. 13 in Anchorage.

The commission will hold a full-day, in-person meeting from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at UAA Library Room 307, 3211 Providence Drive. Regular commission business runs from 9 a.m. to noon. The afternoon session begins at 1 p.m., when the three presenters from the USGS Geologic Hazards Science Center in Golden, Colorado, will speak.

Dr. Peter M. Powers is confirmed as one of the three. Powers helped lead the 2023 Alaska National Seismic Hazard Model, which found increased short-period probabilistic hazard of 1 to 2 g across much of south-central Alaska, driven largely by updated subduction interface and intraslab models.

The commission is charged by statute to recommend seismic risk mitigation policies to the governor and legislature. Its work informs building codes, insurance rates, and school seismic retrofits across the state. The briefing also connects to post-2018 Anchorage earthquake mitigation work and a USGS plan for 450 real-time seismic stations to expand the ShakeAlert early warning system to Alaska.

The meeting is open to the public.