Local News

A magnitude-6.2 earthquake struck Wednesday night about 50 miles from Adak.

"To give you an idea of how large that is, you get only about 100 magnitude-6 earthquakes on the globe annually," said seismologist Ken MacPherson of the Alaska Earthquake Center. "So that's a fairly significant earthquake."

Adak residents felt the shallow earthquake, which followed a series of smaller quakes in the same area.

MacPherson also said there have been dozens of aftershocks.

The City of Unalaska has approved increasing the budget for the Wind Power Development Project by $75,000.

The city is currently using meteorological (MET) towers to collect data for an energy study that'll determine if Unalaska can produce electricity from wind energy in the future.

Department of Public Works Director Tom Cohenour said the city is in phase three of the four-phase project to determine the best location for a wind farm.

Divers, a tug vessel, and a crane barge crew from Resolve Marine were able to remove a LifeMed medevac plane from Unalaska Bay on Monday. It had been in the water since it crashed near the airport last week.

The three-person air ambulance crew was en route to pick up a medevac patient in Adak when the King Air Beechcraft aircraft went into the water about 100 feet northwest of the end of the Unalaska Airport runway on Jan. 16.

Updated 01/20/20 at 10:30 a.m.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) has decreased the Aviation Color Code to "orange" and Alert Level to "watch" for Shishaldin Volcano. 

Ash emissions declined greatly Sunday night and seismicity is currently low. A SIGMET warning from the National Weather Service is still in effect for the detached volcanic cloud drifting east-southeast over the Pacific Ocean.

The U.S. Coast Guard has reported a fuel sheen about 50 feet wide and 1,500 feet long in Unalaska Bay where a LifeMed medevac plane went into the water Thursday morning.

The King Air Beechcraft aircraft went down about 100 feet northwest of the end of the Unalaska Airport runway with a LifeMed pilot, paramedic, and nurse on board. All three were rescued from a life raft and sustained no serious injuries.