Tsunami Warning Centers in Alaska, Hawaii Open Despite Shutdown

Despite the partial government shutdown, Americans have a full team of scientists tracking every possibility for an earthquake-triggered tsunami.

The nation’s two tsunami warning centers remain fully staffed and operating around the clock in Alaska and Hawaii.

Stuart Weinstein is the deputy director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii’s Ewa Beach on Oahu. He says operations will remain active throughout the shutdown.

In Alaska, Paul Whitmore is the director of the warning center in Palmer north of Anchorage. Besides staying open, the center has a new name: The National Tsunami Warning Center, instead of the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center.

Whitmore says the new name, effective Oct. 1, more accurately reflects its wider responsibility since the East Coast and Eastern Canada were added in 2005.