Weekend earthquakes shook California and caused rock slides in Idaho.
Two back-to-back quakes struck southern California Saturday night with the strongest a magnitude 4.2 according to the U.S. Geological Survey. That quake was centered around 8 miles north of Castaic, California.
“All of the sudden it was two big rattles and little rumbles afterwards,” Castaic resident Jessica Shickle told NBC Los Angeles. “It was like the Lord literally just took our house and just kind of gave it a couple shakes, and that was it and it went away.”
USGS seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones told NBC the quake was basically small.
“This really is a very small earthquake,” Dr. Jones said. “It’s a size that’s relatively common in Southern California. I did a check and there were eight earthquakes 4.2 and larger in 2014.”
On Sunday, a 4.9 magnitude quake rocked Challis, Idaho and surrounding areas. The quake was followed by aftershocks of 4.0 and 3.6 a few hours later.
The 4.9 quake caused rock slides that blocked roadways but officials say there were no serious injuries.
Central Idaho has been experiencing a rare outbreak of small and medium strength earthquakes that has confounded seismologists.
The U.S. Geological Survey is sending in three portable seismographs to the Challis, Idaho area to help experts understand what might be behind the outbreak.
“It certainly has gotten the attention of the state and our regional partners,” Harley Benz of the USGS told The Oregonian. “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 largest quakes have happened since Thursday. The central Idaho region experienced a 4.1 magnitude quake Thursday, 4.9 on Sunday and a 4.4 on Monday. Dozens of other earthquakes under 3.3 magnitude has been happening on a semi-regular basis since March 24.
The region is the same as the deadly 1983 6.9 magnitude earthquake that is still the state’s strongest quake. However, the seismologists say the current quakes are happening on a previously thought dormant fault line and not the one that lead to the major 1983 quake.
Over 500 residents of Sandpoint, Idaho took to the streets to protest an anti-Christian group attempting to get a Ten Commandments monument removed from a public area.
Most of the residents were upset that the Wisconsin-based anti-Christian Freedom From Religion Foundation, which targets Christians and Christian emblems nationwide, would be trying to come into their town and have something removed that the community doesn’t want to see gone.
“I don’t like this at all,” resident Gladys Johnson told the Bonner County Daily Bee. “There’s no way someone can come into our town and dictate what goes on here.”
The FFRF sent a letter last November to the mayor of Sandpoint taking issue with the monument being on public property. The people who sent the letter do not live or have never been to Sandpoint.
The monument was placed in Farmin Park after being donated to the city by the Fraternal Order of Eagles. The city says they have no current plans to remove it but are working with the Eagles to find an alternative location.
A fun outing for two Idaho fathers and their children turned into a nightmare when their SUV ended up stuck in the snow.
The men and their children ended up walking 19 miles in the bitter cold for nine hours to reach help.
Will Murkle and his 10-year-old daughter Megun were traveling with John Julian and his 8-year-old daughter Samantha and 7-year-old son Isaac when they realized they had no cellphone service or supplies after the accident.
The group said they sang songs to try and pass the time during the hike and would huddle together for warmth. They said the only time they really became scared was around midnight when they found fresh wolf tracks in the snow along their path.
“We could tell wolves had been in the area recently,” Murkle told ABC. The group ended up not encountering any wolves.
The fathers said they promised the children cheeseburgers, hot chocolate, fries and soda after the walk was over.
10-year-old Megun said she won’t be leaving the house again without an extra blanket, sleeping bags, food and water.
As a massive Idaho wildfire continues to burn virtually out of control, local officials say forecasts of heavy rain could bring another problem to the firefighters attempting to stop the blaze: flash flooding.
“If a storm moves over the fire and dumps a lot of rain in a short amount of time then that could be a flood risk,” Blaine County officials stated on their official twitter account. Continue reading →
A wildfire near Ketchum, Idaho is burning out of control and threatening over 10,000 homes.
The fire has burned 93,000 acres in 11 days and is considered only 6% contained according to local fire officials. Continue reading →
In Furnace Creek, California, the temperature was 122 in the shade.
According to weather forecasters, that’s not even close to a high temperature.
Forecasters are predicting a world-record high temperature coming to Death Valley, California of 130 degrees a deadly heat wave is raving the western part of the U.S. Continue reading →
Thousands of acres of land have been destroyed due to wildfires raging across the western US according to wildlife officials. The US Forest Service reported 62 large and uncontained fires in Idaho, Nevada, Utah and California.
In Washington, a fire has burned 60 houses and 24,000 acres since it started on Monday. The town of Cle Elum in central Washington has been evacuated although civilians and firefighters have reported no injuries. Continue reading →
