4-15-2014
http://news.yahoo.com/hundreds-earthquakes-strike-central-idaho-rattling-nerves-012504135.html
Hundreds of earthquakes strike central Idaho
Hundreds of low-level and medium-sized earthquakes have struck central Idaho since last month, puzzling geologists who wonder whether the ruptures portend a much larger temblor to come or are merely the rumblings of a seismic fault previously thought to be dormant.
The recent earthquake swarm, beginning on March 24 and climaxed by a 4.9 magnitude tremor on Saturday, has produced no reports of injuries or severe damage but has rattled nerves in a region where Idaho's most powerful known quake, measured at 6.9, killed two children in 1983.
The latest seismic surge, including 100 small to moderate quakes on Monday alone, has galvanized government scientists, who planned to install special seismometers in the area as early as Tuesday to more closely track the activity.
Such earthquake swarms typically are associated with the movement of molten rock below ground, which geologists credited for the recent quake cluster at Yellowstone National Park, or they are linked to an active fault, he said on Tuesday.
Idaho sits at the center of a seismic belt in the intermountain West that runs from northwestern Montana to southern Nevada and contains thousands of faults in the Earth's crust, said Michael Stickney, director of earthquake studies at the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology.
Carl Alexander, disaster coordinator in Challis, said schools have stepped up earthquake drills, and he has requested that emergency responders in Idaho and Utah be available if disaster strikes.
Alexander is advising local residents to keep bottled water and canned goods on hand just in case "a big shaker" should strike.
http://news.yahoo.com/hundreds-earthquakes-strike-central-idaho-rattling-nerves-012504135.html
Hundreds of earthquakes strike central Idaho
Hundreds of low-level and medium-sized earthquakes have struck central Idaho since last month, puzzling geologists who wonder whether the ruptures portend a much larger temblor to come or are merely the rumblings of a seismic fault previously thought to be dormant.
The recent earthquake swarm, beginning on March 24 and climaxed by a 4.9 magnitude tremor on Saturday, has produced no reports of injuries or severe damage but has rattled nerves in a region where Idaho's most powerful known quake, measured at 6.9, killed two children in 1983.
The latest seismic surge, including 100 small to moderate quakes on Monday alone, has galvanized government scientists, who planned to install special seismometers in the area as early as Tuesday to more closely track the activity.
Such earthquake swarms typically are associated with the movement of molten rock below ground, which geologists credited for the recent quake cluster at Yellowstone National Park, or they are linked to an active fault, he said on Tuesday.
Idaho sits at the center of a seismic belt in the intermountain West that runs from northwestern Montana to southern Nevada and contains thousands of faults in the Earth's crust, said Michael Stickney, director of earthquake studies at the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology.
Carl Alexander, disaster coordinator in Challis, said schools have stepped up earthquake drills, and he has requested that emergency responders in Idaho and Utah be available if disaster strikes.
Alexander is advising local residents to keep bottled water and canned goods on hand just in case "a big shaker" should strike.
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