Moderate mag. 4.2 earthquake - Bear Lake County, 10 mi southeast of Soda Springs, Caribou County, Idaho, USA, on Saturday, 2 Jan 2021 10:35 pm (GMT -7) -

Moderate mag. 4.2 earthquake - Bear Lake County, 10 mi southeast of Soda Springs, Caribou County, Idaho, USA, on Saturday, 2 Jan 2021 10:35 pm (GMT -7)

Moderate magnitude 4.2 earthquake at 5 km depth

3 Jan 05:50 UTC: First to report: USGS after 15 minutes.
Update Sun, 3 Jan 2021, 05:57
Light 4.2 quake hits near Soda Springs, Caribou County, Idaho, United States
4.2 quake 2 Jan 10:35 pm (GMT -7)
4.2 quake 2 Jan 10:35 pm (GMT -7)
Just 22 minutes ago, a 4.2-magnitude earthquake struck near Soda Springs, Caribou County, Idaho, USA. The tremor was recorded late at night on Saturday 2 January 2021 at 10:35 pm local time, at a very shallow depth of 3.2 miles below the surface.
The event was filed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the first seismological agency to report it.
Our monitoring service identified a second report from the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) which listed the quake at magnitude 4.2 as well.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake was probably felt by many people in the area of the epicenter. It should not have caused significant damage, other than objects falling from shelves, broken windows, etc.
In Georgetown (pop. 470) located 7 miles from the epicenter, the quake should have been felt as light shaking.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Soda Springs (pop. 2,900) located 10 miles from the epicenter, Georgetown (pop. 190) 14 miles away, Soda Springs (pop. 900) 14 miles away, and Paris (pop. 510) 23 miles away.
Other towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Preston (pop. 5,200) located 39 miles from the epicenter, Pocatello (pop. 54,400) 55 miles away, and Logan (pop. 50,400) 60 miles away.
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Earthquake data:

Date & time: 3 Jan 2021 05:35:27 UTC -
Local time at epicenter: Saturday, 2 Jan 2021 10:35 pm (GMT -7)
Magnitude: 4.2
Depth: 5.1 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 42.5605°N / 111.454°W (Bear Lake County, Idaho, United States)
Nearest volcano: Hell's Half Acre (132 km / 82 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
11 km (7 mi) NW of Georgetown (pop: 467) --> See nearby quakes!
16 km (10 mi) SE of Soda Springs (pop: 2,940) --> See nearby quakes!
29 km (18 mi) NNW of Montpelier (pop: 2,510) --> See nearby quakes!
62 km (39 mi) NNE of Preston (Franklin County) (pop: 5,210) --> See nearby quakes!
88 km (55 mi) ESE of Pocatello (pop: 54,400) --> See nearby quakes!
97 km (60 mi) NNE of Logan (Utah) (pop: 50,400) --> See nearby quakes!
111 km (69 mi) SSE of Idaho Falls (pop: 59,200) --> See nearby quakes!
155 km (96 mi) NNE of Ogden (Utah) (pop: 85,400) --> See nearby quakes!
203 km (126 mi) N of Salt Lake City (Utah) (pop: 192,700) --> See nearby quakes!
403 km (250 mi) ESE of Boise (pop: 146,000) --> See nearby quakes!
Weather at epicenter at time of quake:
Overcast Clouds -6.8°C (20 F), humidity: 100%, wind: 2 m/s (3 kts) from S
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Estimated released energy: 1.3 x 1011 joules (35 megawatt hours, equivalent to 30.1 tons of TNT) More info
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If you felt this quake (or if you were near the epicenter), please share your experience and submit a short "I felt it" report! Other users would love to hear about it!
Also if you did NOT feel the quake although you were in the area, please report it! Your contribution is valuable also to earthquake science and earthquake hazard analysis and mitigation efforts. You can use your device location or the map to indicate where you were during the earthquake. Thank you!

Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies

Info: The more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.
MagnitudeDepthLocationSource
M 4.25.1 kmSouthern Idaho, USAUSGS
M 4.25 kmSOUTHERN IDAHO, USAEMSC

User reports for this quake (23)

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
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Soda Springs, ID (16.7 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / very short : Felt like house got hit hard by something really large. Short in duration but whole house shook, felt like a large jolt. No damage and nothing fell. | 2 users found this interesting.
11.2 km WNW of epicenter [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) : Initially heard what sounded like a strong gust of wind immediately followed by the whole house shaking for about two seconds. No damage or items falling. | One user found this interesting.
Niter, Idaho (22.9 km WSW of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / single lateral shake / 1-2 s : We were in bed. Sounded like a small person walking across the floor, then like a cat jumped on the bed. | One user found this interesting.
Pocatello / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / very short : Felt like someone was at the end of my bed shaking the mattress, 1 to 2 seconds. Upstairs bedroom. 10:35 would have been correct. I didn't look at a clock. I did listen for trains which can rattle the house, but there was no train noise. | One user found this interesting.
Pocatello (92.3 km WNW of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / very short : The shaking I felt at 1035 pm on January 3rd was from pocatello | One user found this interesting.
Pocatello, ID (87.9 km WNW of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s : 5th floor apartment, had horizontal shaking. It was quiet and I may not have noticed otherwise. | One user found this interesting.
Pocatello, Idaho / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / very short : A very slight vibration just after 10:30pm on Jan 2. | One user found this interesting.
Ammon, ID / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / 1-2 s : Very light shaking, barely a tremor. The person next to me didn't notice anything. | One user found this interesting.
Idaho Falls / Weak shaking (MMI III) : Lasted ~3-4 seconds | One user found this interesting.
Elk bend (329.3 km NW of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / very short (reported through our app)
IDAHO FALLS (116.2 km NNW of epicenter) [Map] / not felt (reported through our app)
11 km WNW of epicenter [Map] / Moderate shaking (MMI V)
11.8 km SE of epicenter [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 2-5 s
Montpelier / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / very short
Soda Springs / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / 5-10 s : Roaring sound and objects shaking
Montpelier / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / very short
Soda springs / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 5-10 s
Preston, Idaho / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / single lateral shake / very short
SODA SPRINGS / Strong shaking (MMI VI)
Fruit Heights / not felt
83406 / not felt
Bern / Weak shaking (MMI III)
Georgetown Idaho / Light shaking (MMI IV)
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