USGS eyes volcano observatory on Saipan

The U.S. Geological Survey has underscored the need to establish a Marianas volcano observatory on Saipan to monitor Anatahan Volcano and eight other Northern islands reportedly formed by active volcanoes.

Dr. James E. Quick, coordinator for the USGS volcano hazards program, told the Saipan Tribune that Saipan is the logical place to build the Marianas volcano observatory.

Quick said USGS needs $8 million for their long-term goal, which is to monitor Anatahan and eight other islands in the north.

Quick, however, stated that there is no specific date as to when to establish such a volcano observatory on the island because it depends on the availability of funding.

Marianas remains very important to USGS, said Quick who is currently on island with the visiting James Kauahikaua of the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and two other USGS geologists Bill Burton and Dave Weary.

“In fact in the study that we recently completed, evaluated….the Marianas ranked in among those volcanoes that we assigned the highest priority for full monitoring. So that’s official,” he said.

There are nine islands north of Saipan that are formed by active volcanoes, said Quick, adding that an average these volcanoes produce an eruption of every three to five years.

“The presence of large basins of the volcanoes, large craters that we…as our evidence that these volcanoes could produce large explosive events which are hazardous again, not only to the people on the ground, but these large explosions push volcanic ash in the air, threatening aircraft and potentially producing tsunamis,” he said.

The volcano hazards program coordinator said the planned Marianas observatory, which will operate a $1 million per year, would represent USGS permanent commitment in the CNMI.

Quick explained that an observatory is an office that has a collection of people that has expertise that can look at the data, analyze it, determine remotely from this data what the volcano is doing and issue warnings.

At this point the $8 million is not fully funded. There is already funding to the tune of $500,000 a year, which is short of USGS goal of having a $2 million per year to build a network, Quick said.

“We hope to begin the monitoring of Pagan after typhoon season. And we hope to perform an upgrade to the monitoring system of Anatahan on the next few months,” he added.