Sawtooth Fault

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The Sawtooth Fault is an east-dipping normal fault (vertical motion) which runs along the eastern base of the Sawtooth Mountains in the state of Idaho in the United States.

In 2010, Glenn Thackray and colleagues from Idaho State University discovered the Sawtooth Fault near the base of the mountains using LIDAR. They found that it could produce an earthquake measuring up to magnitude 7.5 and that two past large earthquakes likely took place on the fault around 7,000 and 4,000 years ago. The fault is 40 mi (64 km) long, and runs near Stanley, Idaho, and Redfish Lake. Future earthquakes could be felt as far as Boise. [1] [2] [3]

On March 31, 2020, the 6.5 magnitude 2020 Central Idaho earthquake struck about 16 km north-northeast of the Sawtooth Fault. [4] However, this quake is likely not on the Sawtooth Fault as it had strike-slip motion rather than up-down motion of a normal fault. [5]

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An earthquake is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those that are so weak that they cannot be felt, to those violent enough to propel objects and people into the air, damage critical infrastructure, and wreak destruction across entire cities. The seismic activity of an area is the frequency, type, and size of earthquakes experienced over a particular time. The seismicity at a particular location in the Earth is the average rate of seismic energy release per unit volume. The word tremor is also used for non-earthquake seismic rumbling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Andreas Fault</span> Geologic feature in California

The San Andreas Fault is a continental right-lateral strike-slip transform fault that extends roughly 1,200 kilometers (750 mi) through California. It forms the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. Traditionally, for scientific purposes, the fault has been classified into three main segments, each with different characteristics and a different degree of earthquake risk. The average slip rate along the entire fault ranges from 20 to 35 mm per year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fault (geology)</span> Fracture or discontinuity in rock across which there has been displacement

In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic forces, with the largest forming the boundaries between the plates, such as the megathrust faults of subduction zones or transform faults. Energy release associated with rapid movement on active faults is the cause of most earthquakes. Faults may also displace slowly, by aseismic creep.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earthquake swarm</span> Series of localized seismic events within a short time period

In seismology, an earthquake swarm is a sequence of seismic events occurring in a local area within a relatively short period. The time span used to define a swarm varies, but may be days, months, or years. Such an energy release is different from the situation when a major earthquake is followed by a series of aftershocks: in earthquake swarms, no single earthquake in the sequence is obviously the main shock. In particular, a cluster of aftershocks occurring after a mainshock is not a swarm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sawtooth Wilderness</span>

The Sawtooth Wilderness is a federally-protected wilderness area that covers 217,088 acres (87,852 ha) of the state of Idaho. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it was designated the Sawtooth Primitive Area in 1937 to preserve the exceptional scenic beauty of the Sawtooth Mountains. On August 22, 1972 Public Law 92-400 designated the Primitive Area as the Sawtooth Wilderness and part of the newly created Sawtooth National Recreation Area. As part of the National Wilderness Preservation System, the Sawtooth Wilderness is an area where human development and use are restricted and people are to remain only visitors. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Sawtooth Wilderness has some of the clearest air in the lower 48 states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sawtooth National Forest</span> National forest located in Idaho and Utah in the United States

Sawtooth National Forest is a National Forest that covers 2,110,408 acres in the U.S. states of Idaho and Utah. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it was originally named the Sawtooth Forest Reserve in a proclamation issued by President Theodore Roosevelt on May 29, 1905. On August 22, 1972 a portion of the forest was designated as the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA), which includes the Sawtooth, Cecil D. Andrus–White Clouds, and Hemingway–Boulders wilderness areas. The forest is managed as four units: the SNRA and the Fairfield, Ketchum, and Minidoka Ranger Districts.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sawtooth National Recreation Area</span> National recreation area in Idaho, US

The Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA) is a national recreation area in central Idaho, United States that is managed as part of Sawtooth National Forest. The recreation area, established on August 22, 1972, is managed by the U.S. Forest Service, and includes the Sawtooth, Hemingway–Boulders, and Cecil D. Andrus–White Clouds wilderness areas. Activities within the 730,864-acre (2,957.70 km2) recreation area include hiking, backpacking, White water rafting, camping, rock climbing, kayaking, mountain biking, fishing, and hunting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sawtooth Range (Idaho)</span> Mountain range in Idaho, United States

The Sawtooth Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in central Idaho, United States, reaching a maximum elevation of 10,751 feet (3,277 m) at the summit of Thompson Peak. It encompasses an area of 678 square miles (1,756 km2) spanning parts of Custer, Boise, Blaine, and Elmore counties, and is bordered to the east by the Sawtooth Valley. Much of the mountain range is within the Sawtooth Wilderness, part of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area and Sawtooth National Forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Idaho</span> Overview of the Geograpny of Idaho

The U.S. state of Idaho borders six other U.S. states and one Canadian province. The states of Washington and Oregon are to the west, Nevada and Utah are to the south, and Montana and Wyoming are to the east. Idaho also shares a short border with the Canadian province of British Columbia to the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Idaho State Highway 75</span> State highway in Lincoln, Blaine, and Custer Counties in Idaho, United States

State Highway 75 is a two-lane highway in the western United States that travels through the Sawtooth Valley of central Idaho. The highway's southern terminus is in Shoshone, and its northern is near Challis. It is designated as one of Idaho's scenic byways and provides access to Sawtooth National Recreation Area and primarily follows the Big Wood River in the south and the main Salmon River in the north, divided by Galena Summit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1983 Borah Peak earthquake</span> Earthquake in Idaho, United States

The 1983 Borah Peak earthquake occurred on October 28, at 8:06:09 a.m. MDT in the western United States, in the Lost River Range at Borah Peak in central Idaho.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enriquillo–Plantain Garden fault zone</span> Seismic fault in the Caribbean

The Enriquillo–Plantain Garden fault zone is a system of active coaxial left lateral-moving strike slip faults which runs along the southern side of the island of Hispaniola, where Haiti and the Dominican Republic are located. The EPGFZ is named for Lake Enriquillo in the Dominican Republic where the fault zone emerges, and extends across the southern portion of Hispaniola through the Caribbean to the region of the Plantain Garden River in Jamaica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1916 Irondale earthquake</span> Earthquake in Alabama on October 18, 1916

The 1916 Irondale earthquake struck in the north–central region of the U.S. state of Alabama on October 18. The strongest earthquake in state history, it registered an estimated Richter scale magnitude of 5.1 and resulted in extensive, but minor damage. This damage, limited to Shelby and Jefferson counties, reached its maximum severity near the epicenter in the city of Irondale, including cracked windows, fallen chimneys, and dried-up wells. While there were no fatalities, the earthquake spawned widespread panic, sending alarmed workers from tall buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teton Fault</span>

The Teton fault is a normal fault located in northwestern Wyoming. The fault has a length of 44 miles (70 km) and runs along the eastern base of the Teton Range. Vertical movement on the fault has caused the dramatic topography of the Teton Range.

At 7:09 AM MDT on March 18, 2020, a 5.7 magnitude earthquake hit Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, with an epicenter 6 km (3.7 mi) north-northeast of Magna, Utah, beneath the site of the planned Utah Inland Port. It was the first major earthquake to occur within the Salt Lake Valley since the city was founded, the state's strongest earthquake since the 1992 St. George earthquake, and the first earthquake of comparable magnitude to occur near Salt Lake City since 1962, when a magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck a similar location in Magna.

The 1934 Hansel Valley earthquake occurred on March 12 at approximately 8:05 a.m. MST with a moment magnitude of 6.6 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). The shock originated in the Hansel Valley at the north end of the Great Salt Lake in Utah in the United States. Damage was mostly confined to vulnerable buildings, and two people died. The dip-slip (normal) fault that generated the shock ruptured the surface of the ground and other geologic features were documented. A large aftershock occurred three hours after the initial event and may have caused additional damage.

The 2020 Central Idaho earthquake occurred in the western United States on March 31, 2020, at 5:52 PM MDT, near Ruffneck Peak in the Sawtooth Mountains of central Idaho, 72 miles (116 km) northeast of Boise and 19 miles (31 km) northwest of Stanley. It had a magnitude of 6.5 and was felt with a maximum intensity of VIII.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyaukkyan Fault</span>

The Kyaukkyan Fault Zone is a large complex strike-slip fault that extends for about 510 km from Shan state, Myanmar to Thailand. It was the source of the 1912 Shan state earthquake when it ruptured for a length of 160 km along the northernmost segment. The fault is not very well studied, unlike the Sagaing Fault. The fault runs through the Shan hills nearly parallel to the Sagaing Fault. It is highly segmented, characterized by a broad array of splaying segments and basins, dominated by releasing bends and associated extensional fault systems. The slip rate for this fault is about 1 mm/yr.

The 1968 Borrego Mountain earthquake occurred on April 8, at 18:28 PST, near the unincorporated community of Ocotillo Wells in San Diego County. The moment magnitude (Mw ) 6.6 strike-slip earthquake struck with a focal depth of 11.1 km (6.9 mi). Damage was relatively moderate, and the mainshock was assigned a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity (MMI) of VII. Shaking was felt in Nevada, and Arizona. It was the largest earthquake to strike California since 1952, and its display of afterslip became the subject of scientific interest.

References

  1. "Scientists find new seismic fault in Rocky Mountains". BBC News. May 20, 2012. Archived from the original on February 12, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2010.
  2. Wall, Tim (November 19, 2010). "Large Seismic Fault Found in the Rockies". Discovery News. Archived from the original on June 22, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2010.
  3. "Geosciences Professor Discovers New Fault". Idaho State University. September 27, 2010. Archived from the original on April 11, 2013. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  4. "M 6.5 - 72km W of Challis, Idaho". USGS. March 31, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  5. Nicole Blanchard (April 8, 2020). "A week after Idaho's earthquake, experts seek answers about historic, unexpected event". The Idaho Statesman. McClatchy.com. Retrieved April 9, 2020.