QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

8 km NNW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho

Yes. A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 8 km NNW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho, 86 km (53 mi) N of Boise City, ID, at 7:45 pm MDT on 27 March 2024 (01:45 UTC), 9.0 km deep.

86 km (53 mi) N of Boise City, ID

· 9.0 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Gem County 40 kmBoise County 54 kmWashington County 54 kmAdams County 62 kmPayette County 64 kmValley County 68 kmCanyon County 95 kmAda County 102 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
Idaho today
every earthquake in Idaho in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
9.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Gem County, 40 km SSW
Nearest mapped fault
Squaw Creek fault, 16 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 959 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 10 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 95× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 lb of TNT

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.9 on 2024-02-26 — about 68,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.3 Western Idaho · 35 km WSW of this epicentre

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 44.3673, -116.1303. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Gem County, ID 40 km (25 mi) SSW earthquakes near Gem County
Boise County, ID 54 km (33 mi) SE earthquakes near Boise County
Washington County, ID 54 km (33 mi) W earthquakes near Washington County
Adams County, ID 62 km (39 mi) NNW earthquakes near Adams County
Payette County, ID 64 km (40 mi) SW earthquakes near Payette County
Valley County, ID 68 km (42 mi) NE earthquakes near Valley County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 2.1 6 km NNW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  2. 2.1 8 km NW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  3. 1.8 6 km NNW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  4. 1.9 7 km NNW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  5. 1.9 8 km NW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  6. 2.1 18 km WSW of Cascade, Idaho
  7. 2.4 7 km NNW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  8. 1.8 17 km SSE of Midvale, Idaho
  9. 2.4 7 km NNW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  10. 3.0 7 km NW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  11. 2.7 7 km NW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  12. 2.5 7 km NNW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  13. 2.5 6 km NNW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  14. 2.1 27 km ESE of Cascade, Idaho
  15. 2.0 6 km NNW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.