Following the March 27 , 1964 Alaska earthquake and tsunami , the NTWC ( formerly known as The Palmer Observatory ) was established in 1967 in Palmer , Alaska , under the auspices of the Coast and Geodetic Survey . This earthquake alerted State and Federal officials that a facility was necessary to provide timely and effective tsunami warnings and earthquake information to the coastal areas of Alaska . Congress provided funds in 1965 to construct two new observatories and establish a tsunami warning system in Alaska . The first observatory constructed was at the U.S. Naval Station on Adak Island in the Andreanof Islands in the Central Aleutians . The City of Palmer , in the Matanuska Valley 42 miles northeast of Anchorage , was selected as the site for the primary observatory due to its proximity to bedrock for instrumentation and to communications facilities . Construction of the observatory installations , the task of engineering and assembling the data systems , and the hookup of the extensive telecommunications and data telemetry network was completed in the summer of 1967 . With the dedication of the Palmer Observatory on September 2 , 1967 , the Alaska Regional Tsunami Warning System ( ARTWS ) became operational
1964 Alaska earthquake
1964 Alaska earthquake
National Tsunami Warning Center