ARKHANGELSK, August 12. /TASS/. Seismic stations on the coast of Yakutia, as well as on the New Siberian Islands and on the De Long Islands should be organized to ensure the safety of navigation along the Northern Sea Route and of facilities on the Arctic coast, Yakutia's First Deputy Minister for Arctic Development and Affairs of the North's Peoples Sergey Neustroev said at the Arctic - Regions forum in Arkhangelsk.
"Most buildings in the Arctic's eastern sector, including military facilities, are located on gently sloping tundra shores," he said. "Thus, we suggest the scientific society established a network of seismological stations on Yakutia's Arctic coast, on the New Siberian Islands, on the De Long Islands. The islands are difficult to access, and science and marine companies and operators should cooperate to install seismic stations and to collect data."
The Arctic is seismically active, especially its eastern part. For example, seismic phenomena have been recorded near the Bennett Island in the East Siberian Sea. "The latest satellite imagery data shows huge plumes of smoke or gas coming out near the Bennett Island and reaching the coasts of Alaska and Canada. Seismologists say earthquakes have been increasing there, and report earthquakes of magnitude 4," he said adding tsunami formation is also possible.
Galina Antonovskaya, head of the Seismology Laboratory at the Academician Laverov Research Center for Integrated Arctic Studies (the Russian Academy of Sciences' Urals Branch), explained to TASS that there are single seismic stations in the Russian Arctic, where most of them are located in the western sector. "The Arctic is practically not covered by seismic networks. And if we compare this with our Western counterparts, they have hundreds of stations there, and we, sorry, have ten times fewer," she said. In the eastern part of the Russian Arctic, stations are only in Tiksi and on the Chukchi Peninsula. There is no such stationary equipment on the New Siberian Islands, where they are needed. "There is no permanent seismic station on the New Siberian Islands. It must be there. That area is really very active," she added.
According to the scientist, seismic stations record, in addition to earthquakes, events related to glaciers and ice, which is important for the navigation safety. "Stations need to be developed and organized, because seismic stations, in addition to registering earthquakes, register both ice and glacial movements, which is also very important for predicting the formation of icebergs," she added.
About the forum
The Arctic - Regions forum ran in Arkhangelsk on August 8-9. The event was organized by the Arkhangelsk Region's government, and co-organized by the NEVA International Company. The forum's titular partner was the Rosatom State Corporation. TASS was the event's information partner.