What We Call a 4.8 Earthquake in Idaho

We call it Friday.

Mild to moderate earthquakes are fairly common here. I’ve pulled up the earthquake map from time to time, and I’m always taken aback by how many quakes never even get much mention from news media. It’s like drive-by shootings in Los Angeles. They became so common, that newsrooms only covered those with high body counts.

We had a decent-sized temblor a few years ago centered near Stanley. I recall that Idaho Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon told me it cracked her garage floor. She lives near Challis.

It was in Challis where two children were killed 41 years ago by a quake. A storefront collapsed on them as they walked to school. That one was much larger and centered near Borah Peak. At 6.9 on the scale, it was much more powerful than the routine, and it heavily damaged buildings in Mackay.

What the New York City area experienced was a 4.8. It originated in central New Jersey. The shaker is the worst recorded in that state in 140 years!

I was in college when a 5.3 on the scale woke me up one morning at 3:00 a.m. It was centered about 100 miles away. A few things fell off a shelf, but nothing broke.

I was working the day of the quake that damaged the Washington Monument. My chair started to rock. An aftershock woke me later when I was asleep.

Just keep in mind, that we live in an earthquake-prone part of the country, but the earth can shift anywhere. Expect the unexpected.