If any of you are worried about those little earthquakes we've been having lately, I'll give you a few statistics that might relax you a bit.
Not a single one of the recent earthquakes has registered more than about 4.5 on the Richter scale. The biggest earthquake ever registered in Idaho was 6.9, back in October of 1983. Like the recent ones, the 1983 earthquake was centered near the town of Challis. It was not particularly destructive. Two children waking to school were killed by a single falling brick wall.
America's biggest-ever earthquake was the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964. That one was pretty devastating, and it registered 9.2. And the next ten largest American earthquakes were all centered in Alaska.
Number 12 on the list was a 7.9 earthquake on the big island of Hawaii in 1868. Interestingly, of the top 20 US earthquakes, only three took place in California. The largest was the devastating 1906 earthquake in San Francisco. Three of the top 20 took place in Missouri, and all of them happened about the time John Quincy Adams was president. In other words, a little more than 200 years ago.
You may have heard that the entire Yellowstone Park zone could go in an earthquake soon. In fact, the other night on TV somebody said the Yellowstone quake might happen "any day now", and they were quoting someone from the Teddy Roosevelt administration.
Don't worry. Be happy. There's a whole lot of shaking going on, but for now, Idaho is pretty safe.
