Zach Lifton is a hazards geologist with the Idaho Geological Survey, a non-regulatory state agency that leads in the collection, interpretation and dissemination of geologic and mineral data for Idaho. The agency has served the state since 1919, and prior to 1984, it was named the Idaho Bureau of Mines and Geology.
The Snake River Plain is a prominent river drainage that cuts a broad “smile” across southern Idaho, easily recognizable from satellite imagery. The geologic history of the Eastern Snake River Plain and the Yellowstone Hotspot track are closely intertwined, but the Western Snake River Plain has a different story to tell. The Snake River flows more […]
Seismic activity in central Idaho has been elevated for the past 20 months. These earthquakes are aftershocks of a magnitude 6.5 earthquake that occurred on March 31, 2020 — a classic example of a mainshock-aftershock sequence. The magnitude (Mw) 6.5 earthquake near Stanley, Idaho, on March 31, 2020, was the second-largest earthquake recorded in Idaho. Fortunately, […]
