BOISE, Idaho – A university seismologist began installing seismic measuring devices Sunday in the Clear Creek area, where residents have reported feeling earthquakes for more than a week.
The seismograph installed Sunday – the first in a series – will help identify the fault at issue in the quakes, said Jim Zollweg of Boise State University.
Zollweg plans to set up several seismographs within a 15- to 20-mile radius of Clear Creek over the next week. The network may help him predict what is going to happen if the earthquake cluster, or swarm, continues in the area near Cascade, about 80 miles north of Boise.
Previous clusters have lasted months.
“I would like to know where the earthquakes really are, and how deep the earthquakes are, because once I start to get that I can start making some associations with faults in the area,” Zollweg said Sunday from Clear Creek.
Area residents have been calling seismologists since Sept. 22 to report feeling several earthquakes a day.
The strongest, which occurred Thursday, had an estimated magnitude of 4.0 – the biggest temblor to hit the area in at least 15 years. A quake with a magnitude of 3.9 shook the area late Saturday.
Most people do not notice quakes with a magnitude of less than 4.7, Zollweg said. He thinks the ongoing swarm might be closer to the surface – one to two miles below the surface, instead of the more common three to seven miles down.
That would make them easier to feel, he said.
No injuries or significant property damage have been reported, although some Clear Creek residents have reported being awakened in the night by the temblors and having items fall from cupboards and shelves.
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