Rat Islands

{{short description|Group of islands in Alaska, United States}}

{{See also|Rat Island (disambiguation)}}

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File:Rat Islands II.jpg)]]

File:Western Aleutians.png, showing the Rat Islands on the right: Kiska Island (7), Little Kiska Island (8), Segula Island (9), Khvostof Island (10), Davidof Island (11), Little Sitkin Island (12), Hawadax Island (13), Amchitka Island (14), and Semisopochnoi Island (15)]]

The Rat Islands ({{langx|ale|Qax̂um tanangis}},{{cite book | first=K. | last=Bergsland | author-link=Knut Bergsland | year=1994 | title=Aleut Dictionary |publisher=Alaska Native Language Center |location=Fairbanks }}) are a group of American volcanic islands in the Aleutian Islands in southwestern Alaska, between Buldir Island and the Near Islands group to its west, and Amchitka Pass and the Andreanof Islands group to its east. The islands in the group are, from west to east, Kiska, Little Kiska, Segula, Hawadax or Kryssei, Khvostof, Davidof, Little Sitkin, Amchitka, and Semisopochnoi. The total land area of the Rat Islands is 360.849 sq mi (934.594 km²). None of the islands are inhabited at present,{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Brittanica|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Rat-Islands|access-date=7 February 2024|date=12 December 2023|title=Rat Islands|author=Amy Tikkanen}} but Amchitka Island was an Aleut territory until the end of the eighteenth century.{{cite web|url=https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2021-08/AmchitkaFactSheet.pdf|title=Fact Sheet: Amchitka, Alaska, Site, A Nevada Offsite|access-date=7 February 2024|date=August 2021|publisher=U.S. Department of Energy}}

The name Rat Islands is the English translation of the name given to the islands by Captain Fyodor Petrovich Litke in 1827 when he visited the Aleutian Islands on a voyage around the world. The islands are named so because rats were accidentally introduced to Hawadax Island (formerly known as Rat Island) in about 1780.{{Cite web |url=http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=09-P13-00029&segmentID=5 |title=Living on Earth: Taking the "Rat" out of Rat Island |work=loe.org}} {{As of|2009}}, after a government-funded eradication program, Rat Island is believed to be rat-free;{{cite news| url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-alaska-rat-idUSTRE55B66920090612 | agency=Reuters| title=Alaska's Rat Island rat-free after 229 years | date=12 June 2009}} it was renamed Hawadax Island in 2012. However, a post-operation assessment found that many of the island's local bird populations were negatively impacted—there was a far higher-than-expected nontarget mortality.{{Cite web |url=http://www.seabirdrestoration.org/pdf/RatIslandReview.pdf |title=The Rat Island Rat Eradication Project: A Critical Evaluation of Nontarget Mortality |publisher=The Ornithological Council |year=2010}} An internal U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement investigation revealed that several laws may have been violated.{{Cite web |url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwdOUBgcb_baeXlYTzZ0X05hWFU/view?usp=sharing |title=Report of Investigation: Rat Island Mortality |work=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |year=2010}}

The Rat Islands are earthquake-prone as they are located on the boundary of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates.{{citation needed|date= March 2018}} The 1965 Rat Islands earthquake was one of the largest in recorded history with a magnitude of 8.7.{{Cite web |url=https://www.usgs.gov/natural-hazards/earthquake-hazards/science/20-largest-earthquakes-world |title=20 Largest Earthquakes in the World |publisher=United States Geological Survey}}