‘Seismic’ activity for 8 minutes, but not an earthquake.
By Raif Karerat
When an Alaska Earthquake Center seismic station in Southeast Alaska showed readings that indicated an earthquake was underway on Oct. 21, scientists were baffled as to what caused the spikes in seismic activity considering there weren’t any quakes in the vicinity.
The readings –which showed about eight minutes of unusual activity before date stopped transmitting altogether — were actually the work of a bear, according to Alaskan NBC affiliate KTUU.
“We aren’t sure for certain it was a bear, but the data shows indicates it was something big moving out there before the data stopped coming in,” according to field engineer Scott Dalton. “We still have power out there so we think that means that an animal dug up the cables between the sensor and the fiberglass hut that provides power.”
The incident with the bear isn’t the first time the station has been targeted by local wildlife.
“This same station was damaged last year by what we think was a goat,” Dalton told the news station.
Chew marks are also often found on the yellow lids of the “seismic vaults” that house the sensor that record seismic movement, Dalton continued.
The seismic station will have to wait until next summer to be repaired due to its remote location, but in the meantime the Alaska Earthquake Information Center will continue to monitor earthquake data from a network of over 400 seismic stations in the region from Canada to Russia, according to Popular Science.