Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Updated: Aftershocks Follow 6.5 Quake In Southern Idaho


6.5 magnitude earthquake rattles Idaho and 6 surrounding states



There were 4.6, 3.4, and 3.6-magnitude aftershocks felt after the earthquake, rattling fears throughout Boise and the Treasure Valley.
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At 5:52 p.m. Tuesday, Idaho and states throughout the Northwest were rattled by a 6.5 magnitude earthquake, according to the USGS.
The USGS reports that the epicenter was west of Challis and 73.3 miles north of Meridian.
According to the USGS map, the epicenter of the earthquake was next to Shake Creek and Laidlow Creek in the north-central Idaho mountains.
The USGS had a delay in reporting the earthquake because of social distancing, according to Paul Bodin, the head of the University of Washington seismology lab, who talked to our sister station in Seattle, KING.
People in six different states reportedly felt the 6.5 magnitude earthquake, according to the USGS's intensity map.
According to National Weather Service Boise, this earthquake was the second strongest earthquake in the world for the last 30 days.

"We don't hear that much about Idaho earthquakes because they are fairly unusual," Bodin said. "The last one that was this big was back in 1983. It was in Borah Peak."
The earthquake came less than two weeks after a major quake rattled Utah, Idaho's neighbor to the south. That 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck just outside Salt Lake City, damaging buildings and spurring evacuations.
The USGS said the earthquake's depth was 10 kilometers.
Boise Mayor Lauren McLean tweeted out "Boise, yes you did feel an #earthquake. City officials are checking all our facilities and public safety officers are conducting structural checks downtown and in our neighborhoods."





6.5-magnitude earthquake in southern Idaho felt in Spokane


Spokane shook Tuesday afternoon after a magnitude 6.5 earthquake hit southern Idaho.

The United States Geological Survey measured the earthquake at a depth of 10 miles below Earth’s surface just before 5 p.m. 

The center of the quake was located about 45 miles west of Challis, Idaho, and it was felt as far away as Calgary, Alberta.
There were no reports of damage in Spokane as of about 5:40 p.m., according to a tweet from Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer. He said people should call 911 with reports of gas leaks and unstable structures.

Brett Woolley, a restaurant owner in Stanley, said he heard earthquake coming before he felt it.

“I heard the roar, and at first it sounded like the wind but then the roar was tremendous,” Woolley said about 10 minutes after the earthquake. “The whole house was rattling, and I started to panic. I’m sitting here perfectly still and the water next to me is still vibrating.”






 A large earthquake struck north of Boise on Tuesday evening, with people across a large area reporting shaking.
The U.S. Geological Survey reports the magnitude 6.5 temblor struck just before 5 p.m. It was centered 73 miles northeast of Meridian, Idaho, near the rural mountain town of Stanley.
Marcus Smith, an emergency room health unit coordinator at St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center, said the hospital, about 65 miles south of the epicenter, shook but the quake didn’t interfere with the treatment of any patients. The hospital in Blaine County is on the front line of Idaho’s coronavirus outbreak, in a region with the highest per-capita rates of known COVID-19 cases in the nation outside of New York City and surrounding counties.


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