The U.S. National Warning Center in Palmer is keeping a close eye on the far Western Aleutian Islands after Monday's 7.7 magnitude earthquake.
In the 24-hours since Monday's big event, about five aftershocks around magnitude 5.0, have hit off the coast of Attu.
Twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, there are two watch standers examining seismic activity around Alaska and all over the world. And when a big earthquake hits, like the one Monday about 200 miles Northwest of Attu, they have about five minutes to determine whether it's a threat.
"They are the best in the world at what they do," said Mike Angove, Acting Director of the U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center. "You're hard pressed to find people that are able to combine a deep understanding of the seismic analysis and then be able to quickly transition from there into an understanding of the actual tsunami waves and how they're going to propagate."