(Nov. 19) -- Scientists say they have discovered an unknown seismic fault beneath the Rocky Mountains in central Idaho that's capable of unleashing a massive, 7.5-magnitude earthquake.
It's the first time geophysicists have mapped the 40-mile fault line, which runs under the Sawtooth Mountains in the northern Rockies, straight into the tiny mountain hamlet of Stanley. The area is sparsely populated, but a quake of that power could shake communities as far as the Sun Valley ski resort and the state capital Boise, 130 miles away.
"There's a chance in the next few decades there will be an earthquake on this fault, and if it does happen it will be a rather large earthquake," Glenn Thackray, chairman of the Idaho State University's geosciences department, told Reuters.
more New Seismic Fault in Idaho Could Spur Big Quake in Rockies
It's the first time geophysicists have mapped the 40-mile fault line, which runs under the Sawtooth Mountains in the northern Rockies, straight into the tiny mountain hamlet of Stanley. The area is sparsely populated, but a quake of that power could shake communities as far as the Sun Valley ski resort and the state capital Boise, 130 miles away.
"There's a chance in the next few decades there will be an earthquake on this fault, and if it does happen it will be a rather large earthquake," Glenn Thackray, chairman of the Idaho State University's geosciences department, told Reuters.
more New Seismic Fault in Idaho Could Spur Big Quake in Rockies