6.5 Magnitude Earthquake in Idaho Shakes the Region

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1 Apr 2020 5:40 AM
A strong, magnitude 6.5 earthquake rattled Central Idaho Tuesday afternoon, at 5:52 p.m. Mountain Time. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, The epicenter was located 18.7 miles to the north-northwest of Stanley, Idaho, about 78 miles northeast of Boise. [embed]https://twitter.com/WeatherNation/status/1245155967278272512[/embed] The shaking was captured by this webcam from SeeJH.com. Minor shaking begins just before the 20 second mark with a more noticeable jolt shortly after. Ducks sitting on the bank of the Salmon River quickly jump into the water once the shaking starts. An aftershock of magnitude 4.6 was felt about 35 minutes after the initial quake, but additional aftershocks over 4.0 in magnitude are possible in the days to follow. The USGS expects limited landslide activity from this event, with little to no population exposure to the landslide risk. This was a significant earthquake for the region and the largest since the 6.9 magnitude Borah Peak earthquake in 1983, which occurred about 70 miles to the east-southeast. The mountains of Central Idaho have a history of damaging earthquakes, according to the Idaho Geological Survey. This was also a shallow earthquake, occurring at a depth of approximately 10 kilometers, about 6 miles. Earthquakes that strike a depth of 70 km or less are considered shallow. [embed]https://twitter.com/WeatherNation/status/1245403301690003456[/embed] Shaking was widely felt across Idaho, as well as neighboring states. According to the U.S. Geological Survey's "Did you feel it?" responses, shaking was felt as far away as 660 miles, in Regina, Saskatchewan. The shaking apparently caused a stir on social media, due to it's proximity to Yellowstone National Park and the super-volcano located under the park. Experts quickly dispelled any notion of the earthquake affecting the volcano. [embed]https://twitter.com/USGSVolcanoes/status/1245154266928402433[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/DrLucyJones/status/1245171068811112448[/embed] Seven additional aftershocks with a magnitude of 3+ have been recorded by the time of this article's publishing. This will be updated as additional information becomes available.
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