Idaho earthquake
4.9
magnitude earthquake shakes Idaho – second quake in 48 hours
13
April, 2014
April
2014 – IDAHO – A 4.9 earthquake
shook a sparsely populated part of Idaho on Saturday but there were
no immediate reports of damage or injuries, authorities said. The
U.S. Geological Survey said the quake hit just after 6 p.m. local
time (9 p.m. ET) and was centered just 9 miles from Challis, a town
of about 1,000 and the largest city in Custer County. It was a
shallow quake, centered just 3.1 miles deep, the USGS said on its
website. A dispatcher at the Custer County Sheriff’s Office said
items fell from shelves there but no damage or injuries were
reported. Challis is about 120 miles northeast of Boise and 130 miles
southwest of Butte, Mont. A 1983 quake in the region, measured at 6.9
on the old Richter scale, killed two children in Challis and damaged
a couple hundred homes and commercial buildings, most in the town of
Mackay to the southeast.
“There
have been nine other events of a similar magnitude of the 4.5-5.5
magnitude in the last 31 years,” USGS geophysicist Dale Grant said
from Golden, Colo. “There are hot springs all over the state, and
any time there are hot springs there is seismicity in the area.”
It’s the second quake to hit the state in 48 hours. On April 10, a
4.1 magnitude earthquake struck the same region. USGS geophysicist
Dale Grant says the earthquake was “kind of an unusual occurrence”
being the first one of its strength in the area since 2005. Custer
County sheriff’s dispatcher Liz Preston says besides “things
falling off walls and a lot of scared people,” no one was hurt. She
says the area has had some quakes lately, but this one felt “pretty
big” compared with the others. She says the office shook, including
the windows and computers. The earthquake struck west of the
Yellowstone caldera, and though unrelated, is sure to ignite more
curious discussions as to why this region of the country is suddenly
starting to experience more earthquakes. -NBC TEP
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