States Largest Earthquake in the Last 30 Days Shakes Idaho Border

After more than a month of near-inactivity, Idaho just got hit by its largest earthquake in the last 30 days. The good news is that you didn’t feel it. The possible bad news is that if Idaho isn’t shaking, it has some of us wondering what is happening underground.

Are we setting up for a bigger quake or a bunch of smaller quakes in the next few months?

What’s Shakin’ Idaho? Largest Earthquake in the Last 30 Days Just Happened

Idaho isn’t immune to earthquakes. We’ve had many large quakes that have caused significant damage, the largest of which was a powerful 6.9 in 1983. We’ve also had swarms of earthquakes that were low-level but probably worrisome (or just annoying) to residents in the affected areas. Soda Springs was constantly shaking in late 2017 when around 100 small quakes happened over the course of a week. More recently, in 2020, the Stanley area was hit by a large 6.5 quake, followed by dozens of smaller shakers.

According to the USGS website, in the last 30 days there have only been 7 earthquakes that were over 2.5 magnitude. The largest of those just happened near the Montana border with a magnitude of 3.3. The quake was reported between Lima, Montana, and Dubois, Idaho (on the Idaho side of the border).

Idaho earthquake reports have a history of being mild. But one thing that scares many of us whenever there is any size quake in eastern Idaho is the proximity of Yellowstone National Park. Any kind of earth-shaking near the National Park can’t be good for the fabled Yellowstone explosion that is just waiting to happen and wipe out half the country...if you believe in that theory.