QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9ml

11 km WSW of Stanley, Idaho

Yes. A magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 11 km WSW of Stanley, Idaho, at 9:36 am MDT on 3 May 2020 (15:36 UTC), 10 km deep.

· 10 km deep · released about 680 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Boise County 55 kmCuster County 67 kmCamas County 80 kmValley County 85 kmElmore County 94 kmGem County 106 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 2.9 (ml)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Boise County, 55 km WSW
Nearest mapped fault
Sawtooth fault, 3 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 2307 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 30 km (19 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 680 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 680 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 6.5 on 2020-03-31 — about 250,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.1 37 km N of Stanley, Idaho · 43 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 44 km NNW of Stanley, Idaho · 46 km N 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 44.1903, -115.0836. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Boise County, ID 55 km (34 mi) WSW earthquakes near Boise County
Custer County, ID 67 km (42 mi) E earthquakes near Custer County
Camas County, ID 80 km (50 mi) SSE earthquakes near Camas County
Valley County, ID 85 km (53 mi) NNW earthquakes near Valley County
Elmore County, ID 94 km (58 mi) SSW earthquakes near Elmore County
Gem County, ID 106 km (66 mi) W earthquakes near Gem County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 13 km NNE of Stanley, Idaho
  2. 3.2 26 km NW of Stanley, Idaho
  3. 2.8 16 km WNW of Stanley, Idaho
  4. 2.9 37 km NW of Stanley, Idaho
  5. 2.1 11 km WNW of Stanley, Idaho
  6. 2.5 16 km NNE of Stanley, Idaho
  7. 1.9 13 km NE of Stanley, Idaho
  8. 2.0 24 km WNW of Stanley, Idaho
  9. 2.4 6 km NNW of Stanley, Idaho
  10. 3.0 32 km NW of Stanley, Idaho
  11. 2.4 23 km NW of Stanley, Idaho
  12. 3.1 11 km NE of Stanley, Idaho
  13. 2.9 13 km NNE of Stanley, Idaho
  14. 2.7 18 km NNE of Stanley, Idaho
  15. 1.5 8 km NNE of Stanley, 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.