Scientists puzzled by flurry of quakes in central Idaho

Due to several EQ reported recently from Thurs to Mon. this past weekend, scientists are taking a closer look at central Idaho

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Three portable seismographs will be installed in the Challis area in central Idaho to help experts better understand a recent flurry of earthquakes.

Harley Benz, scientist in charge of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center, said scientists decided Tuesday to put in the devices. One of them should be in place by Wednesday and two more within a week to record future earthquakes.

"It certainly has gotten the attention of the state and our regional partners," Benz said. "So what we're trying to do is put in an array to get a better feel for the location of the events and the depths and the rate of activity."

The U.S. Geological Survey has recorded a sequence of quakes rumbling the area, the largest of them being a 4.1-magnitude quake on Thursday, a 4.9 quake on Sunday and a 4.4 on Monday. Smaller quakes have also been recorded, including five on Monday ranging from 2.5 to 3.3 in magnitude. Three of the quakes took place within a 40-minute span starting about 9:12 p.m. Monday.

www.komonews.com...

The three portable seismographs could help scientists identify which fault is currently active, if the quakes continue, and find out where they are actually occurring and at what depth

No one seems worried but they are curious and are going to keep track of any further activity




[My apologies if this has been posted....did not find this in the 'search']



I did find this thread however:
Could the earthquakes in SALMON, Idaho be an alarm for yellowstone?

reply to post by snarky412


I used to live in S. Idaho, Twin Falls precisely. Still have friends and family there and my dad lives in Boise.

Earthquakes aren't unheard of but they do seem to have been increasing in frequency in the region.

We'll be watching this story to be sure.

Probably just the fault that runs under the college's nuclear power plant in Austin acting up. It's been quiet for a long time.

Just trying to rile up the Texans on the site.

reply to post by rickymouse

Probably just the fault that runs under the college's nuclear power plant in Austin acting up. It's been quiet for a long time.

Just trying to rile up the Texans on the site.

Careful now.....BFFT just got promoted to 'Moderator' .LOL

I just checked the RSOE map to see if anything else was happening in this area of Idaho and found this

Event date: 10:53:56 AM 16/04/2014
Event: Unusual geological event
Country: USA
State: State of Idaho
Area: Borah Peak Mountain
City:
Short details: A warning issued today by the Ministry of the Russian Federal for Civil Defense, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters (EMERCOM) has advised the World Organization of ...
More information

It appears that it is unusual enough that Russia is concerned. Source

reply to post by 2manyholes


Wow....thanks for the link/info

This sure got my attention right off the bat:

A warning issued today by the Ministry of the Russian Federal for Civil Defense, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters (EMERCOM) has advised the World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) that a "Red Alert" status level for the Borah Peak Mountain in Idaho (North America/United States) may be warranted in the coming weeks due to increased volcanic-seismic activity detected by both ground and satellite observations.

This is the second such warning issued by EMERCOM this year and follows their 24 January prediction that an earthquake and ensuing tsunami are expected to strike off the southwestern coast of Sakhalin Island, to the north of the epicenter of the 2 August 2007 6.2 magnitude earthquake in the town of Nevelsk that had, likewise, been successfully predicted by Russian scientists.

Important to note about EMERCOM predictions is that unlike their Western counterparts, Russian scientists suggest four new techniques for long-range prediction of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, which are universal and can be applied to all of the regions of the earth. This type of forecasting has no psychic aspects to it at all, and is called "phase trajectory technique." It concerns a simultaneous analysis of periodic and quasi-periodic space rhythms, which involve many factors that have a great effect on these terrible formations, including but not limited to lunar tides and solar cycles.

The "Red Alert" status for Borah Peak Mountain (the largest in Idaho), this report states, means that an eruption is forecast to be imminent with significant emission of ash into the atmosphere likely.

Hmmm...bookmark this to see if their prediction comes true.
Hope not...

reply to post by snarky412


You're welcome Snarky, and my gut is telling me this is not good! I hope I'm wrong.

reply to post by snarky412

Are we sleeping on something here. We have scientists pointing to the swarms as possible magma movement. Seismologists descending on the area with gear. Russia issuing warnings, all this with real sources, and ATS is all quiet?

I posted in a thread earlier about asking my geology professor about the recent quake activity in the pacific. He said its a bit confusing and if they sent out a team of scientists to observe the faultline then it is of great importance. Off topic yes, but im confused because he is confused. Which gives me a real bad feeling

reply to post by Flyzoid



It may have more to do with the lunar/solar tides......and Mother Nature just stretching, trying to shake Her fleas off!!

Although, this year, there will be 2 'blood moons' --lunar eclipse-- and then 2 more next year
For some religious people, 4 blood moons in a row means gloom and doom

The Blood Moon is set to appear three more times in the next 18 months, according to NASA scientists.

The next total eclipse and subsequent Blood Moon will appear on October 8, followed by the same event appearing on April 4 2015 and September 28 2015.

Four Blood Moons in a row are an incredibly rare astrological event and some religious extremists believe it heralds the end of the world.

Linky

Not to sure about the 'End of the World' crap but we may see some changes in the next year or so to Mother Earth
Hopefully nothing severe

2manyholes
It appears that it is unusual enough that Russia is concerned. Source

Hmm, link isn't working anymore? Have they deleted this report?
If it was removed from the page than we should ask why.

reply to post by UnixFE


I think it has been deleted from the page.

Isn't info that talks of the Russian Federation usually Sorcha Fall?

reply to post by UnixFE


It looks as though it was removed a few hours after I had found it. I just went back to the map and the two areas on that map that indicated earthquake activity and listing them as unusual are both gone. I find this disturbing considering that earthquake data on this map usually stays there for days.

As for the agency that sent up the red alert for the area appears to be a legitimate government site in Russia. You can find out more about Emercon Here

I'm glad that Snarky copied some of it to give us an idea of what was being relayed.

Well better hunker down, it's gonna be a duzy

Thanks for the heads up!
Living in the panhandle of Idaho, I always thought Yellowstone was the big threat, so I found this information most interesting.
It would be nice if we weren't treated like children, and were given enough information to prepare for worst-case scenarios.

It's a fracking mystery.

It sounds fracking scary.

Can't imagine what's causing all these fracking tremors.

(Excuse the French)

It's probably Demi Moore stomping her feet because ex-Husband Ashton Kutcher is engaged and now expecting a baby girl with Mila Kunis. The baby news came out about the same time as the earthquakes.

Well ... seriously though ... there's nothing about earthquakes on the USGS Earthquake map ...
I'm thinking it didn't happen.

reply to post by FlyersFan


USGS is only showing quakes that happened in the last 24 hours.

Check out this link instead (IRIS): Click!
It's color coded for time.

Shows up plain as day right there.

And some more info here,
New Link (had the wrong one before)

Here is the last few days:

DATE-(UTC)-TIME* LAT LONG DEP MAG Q GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION/COMMENTS
yy/mm/dd hh:mm:ss deg. deg. km Ml
________ ________ ______ _______ ____ ___ _ ______________________________

________ ________ ______ _______ ____ ___ _ ______________________________
14/04/13 00:04:39 44.62N 114.33W 3.5 4.7 D 15.8 km NW of Challis, ID; Felt V
14/04/12 13:06:19 44.57N 114.30W 9.2 3.5 C 10.2 km NW of Challis, ID; Felt III
14/04/12 07:20:19 46.47N 111.32W 14.1 1.5 D 23.2 km NE of Townsend
14/04/12 00:07:38 44.64N 112.47W 9.7 0.9 C 8.6 km WSW of Lima Dam
14/04/12 00:05:51 44.64N 112.51W 6.9 1.1 B 6.1 km E of Lima
14/04/11 14:19:00 44.55N 114.30W 10.9 2.7 C 8.7 km NW of Challis, ID
14/04/11 10:15:57 47.71N 113.90W 6.4 0.7 B 18.8 km E of Polson
14/04/11 06:25:28 47.88N 114.11W 4.2 0.0 B 5.8 km ESE of Rollins
14/04/10 23:54:05 44.58N 112.50W 9.5 1.8 B 8.8 km SE of Lima
14/04/10 22:35:46 44.58N 112.50W 8.4 1.4 B 9.4 km SE of Lima
14/04/10 19:11:39 47.72N 113.87W 5.4 0.0 C 21.6 km E of Polson
14/04/10 17:09:08 47.69N 112.49W 17.7 1.6 D 24.5 km NNW of Augusta
14/04/10 12:26:01 44.58N 114.29W 11.7 2.0 C 10.8 km NNW of Challis, ID
14/04/10 12:21:33 44.60N 114.33W 6.6 4.2 D 14.0 km NW of Challis, ID; Felt IV
14/04/10 08:23:03 44.85N 111.49W 7.2 0.8 B 3.2 km NE of Cliff Lake
14/04/10 08:21:12 47.33N 113.16W 16.6 1.1 C 30.8 km NE of Seeley Lake
14/04/10 02:46:34 44.57N 114.29W 11.7 2.4 C 9.2 km NW of Challis, ID
14/04/09 14:35:11 47.63N 113.58W 7.2 0.4 D 15.4 km NE of Condon
14/04/09 08:46:34 45.70N 112.40W 9.1 0.7 B 10.7 km WNW of Silver Star
14/04/09 05:54:54 43.23N 110.80W 9.4 2.9 B 11.6 km SW of Hoback Jct, WY
14/04/09 05:04:20 45.00N 111.90W 7.1 0.6 C 29.3 km SW of Cameron
14/04/09 02:33:59 44.65N 110.44W 5.2 2.5 C 10.6 km SSE of Canyon Jct, YNP; UUSS
14/04/08 22:00:48 45.04N 112.78W 9.3 1.0 C 7.7 km ENE of Clark Canyon Dam
14/04/08 20:59:13 44.58N 114.31W 8.1 2.4 C 11.8 km NW of Challis, ID
14/04/08 14:42:37 47.22N 114.13W 11.3-0.1 B 5.6 km SSE of Ravalli
14/04/08 10:22:03 44.79N 111.64W 6.7 1.0 B 10.8 km WSW of Cliff Lake

Sorry the text is kinda jammed together, not great with formatting are they. The first number is depth, second is mag.

FlyersFan
Well ... seriously though ... there's nothing about earthquakes on the USGS Earthquake map ...
I'm thinking it didn't happen.

They happened. You just gotta put the map to display 30 or 7 days. Not to mention I've been seeing them myself come in on YS seismos.

USGS keeps portable seismic kits for just these kinds of situations, and occasionally deploys them when new areas of seismicity occur, or when existing monitored areas need supplementing for more detailed study. They are simply wanting to see if they are missing smaller activity on the fault. Because smaller magnitude quakes can only propagate so far, 71 km is just at the edge of the propagation radius for a lot of smaller quakes. And the smaller quakes can aid in defining a structure, depth profile, and orientation of a fault. Combined with the fact that this is an ancient, extinct volcanic zone, I could see how it would be tempting to put in some portable kits.

The russian "warning" is total BS, perpetrated by that miserable skunk, Sorcha Fail. And mount Borah is at least 60 km away from this activity. Total, epic fail.

And regardless of how much they study it, they still won't, and can't predict earthquakes. It takes TA at ATS to do that. And me says that seismicity is not likely foreshocks- but I love being wrong.

When you look at the underground magma chamber that feeds Yellowstone, you can see that these recent Idaho earthquakes are directly above the deeper parts of the magma chamber.

If there is a magma surge coming up the plume, these earthquakes could be symptoms of such an event.

The question is, how long will it take for this surge to "surface" at Yellowstone?