Agencies to tackle NMI’s volcanic hazards

As volcanic activity on Anatahan continues, volcano experts are planning to meet soon to prepare the CNMI for the occurrence of volcanic disasters.

Emergency Management Office director Rudolfo Pua also said that the U.S. Geological Survey would perform volcano hazards assessment on Pagan, Agrihan and Alamagan—the inhabited islands north of Saipan—beginning in May.

According to Pua, a workshop on volcano hazards in the CNMI would be conducted possibly in April. The USGS, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Federal Aviation Administration, and the Department of Defense will participate in the workshop.

“We are going to establish a workshop whereby all federal agencies and the CNMI government will come together to discuss protocols on volcano advisories,” Pua said.

Pua said he would head to Washington D.C. this week to make the agencies’ meeting materialize, as the CNMI government seeks federal funding for a proposed early warning system and volcano hazards assessment in the Northern Islands.

There are nine active volcanoes in the Northern Marianas, according to the USGS.

In the seas off Maug island, the second northernmost island in the Northern Marianas, federal and local scientists who were part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Oscar Elton Sette expedition sometime in September 2003 discovered a submerged volcanic crater that was showing signs of activity.

Marine monitoring conducted on Maug showed that volcanic vents release warm water of over 100-degrees Fahrenheit. Gas emissions were also prevalent in the waters, as shown by gas bubbles.

Pua underscored the need for an early warning system that would help the CNMI government predict when volcanic eruptions might occur months before they happen.

According to James E. Quick, PhD., a veteran igneous petrologist and program coordinator of the USGS’ Volcano Hazards Program, monitoring the nine active volcanoes in the Northern Marianas and assessing their hazards would cost about $1.9 million per year for the first three years, $1.2 million in the fourth year, and approximately $500,000 per year eventually.

The USGS’ Volcano Hazards Program, however, has no funds for the plan. The USGS is backing the CNMI government’s request for federal funding to implement the plan.

“We hope that this project will be funded in fiscal year 2006,” the EMO director said.