QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.5ml

8 km N of Smiths Ferry, Idaho

Yes. A magnitude 3.5 earthquake was recorded 8 km N of Smiths Ferry, Idaho, 87 km (54 mi) N of Boise City, ID, at 5:57 am MST on 5 March 2024 (12:57 UTC), 10 km deep. 31 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

87 km (54 mi) N of Boise City, ID

· 10 km deep · released about 2.7 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Gem County 43 kmBoise County 52 kmWashington County 57 kmAdams County 63 kmValley County 65 kmPayette County 68 kmCanyon County 98 kmAda County 104 kmElmore County 120 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 3.5 (ml)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
31 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Gem County, 43 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
Squaw Creek fault, 20 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 911 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 63 km (39 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 2.7 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 63,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.5 about 2.7 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 5.6× more

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 130 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 · 39 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 44.3785, -116.0824. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Gem County, ID 43 km (27 mi) SW earthquakes near Gem County
Boise County, ID 52 km (33 mi) SE earthquakes near Boise County
Washington County, ID 57 km (36 mi) W earthquakes near Washington County
Adams County, ID 63 km (39 mi) NNW earthquakes near Adams County
Valley County, ID 65 km (40 mi) NE earthquakes near Valley County
Payette County, ID 68 km (42 mi) SW earthquakes near Payette County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 7 km NNW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  2. 2.4 7 km NNW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  3. 1.8 7 km N of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  4. 1.9 7 km N of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  5. 1.5 6 km NNW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  6. 2.3 9 km NNE of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  7. 1.8 8 km NNE of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  8. 3.1 7 km NNW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  9. 1.6 8 km NNE of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  10. 2.1 7 km NNW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  11. 2.2 7 km N of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  12. 2.1 7 km N of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  13. 2.0 7 km NNW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  14. 2.6 7 km NNW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
  15. 2.0 7 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.