After a swarm of small earthquakes beneath Mount Edgecumbe caught the attention of the Alaska Volcano Observatory in April, a crew of scientists has installed seismic and GPS sensors on the mountain to monitor any further activity.
While the Alaska Volcano Observatory determined in early May that Mount Edgecumbe is now an active volcano, geophysicist Max Kaufman and research technician Max Enders both have reaffirmed that there is no imminent threat of eruption.
The two were in Sitka for three days late last month and installed the sensory equipment on the mountain May 20.
“This new station will let us detect smaller, more local earthquakes than we had previously been able to detect with the pre-existing regional seismic stations, and so let us pick up smaller activity and maybe give us more accurate earthquake locations going forward,” Enders said.
Along with his work for the volcano observatory, Enders is a technician at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute.
Satellite data published on the observatory’s website shows that ground deformation has occurred beneath Mount Edgecumbe since 2018, indicating the flow of magma deep beneath the surface.
Enders highlighted the rapidity of the ground deformation on the southern end of Kruzof Island.
“It is a rapid kind of a large signal compared to other signals we see in Alaska, both tectonic and volcanic,” he said.
The new GPS equipment will allow the observatory to more precisely measure any future deformation and compare it to satellite data.
“It’s a survey grade GPS receiver with a high-quality antenna that’s mounted on a four-foot mast. So motion of the antenna should represent motion of the ground. … We’re trying to use the GPS measurements to detect motion of the ground over time,” Enders said in a Zoom call from his office.
“We’re trying to measure if there’s any uplift that would correspond to the uplift observed with the radar satellite data.”
The station was flown in by helicopter and installed above the treeline at about 2,500 feet above sea level. It’s fully online and transmitting data via the cell network. For the time being, it’s the only sensor installed, but Kaufman said the observatory plans to add four more.
“The earthquake swarm and the interest that that generated, and just wanting to understand what was happening there. Because it is such a unique place. … Its proximity to Sitka definitely made it something of high interest for us to want to characterize and figure out what was going on,” Kaufman said.
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