Earthquakes and firewood

In 1983 a 7.3 earthquake occurred at the base of Mt Borah in Central Idaho. The quake raised Borah Peak, dropped the surrounding valley and the scarp is still visible today. My sister and I went down and took pictures shortly after it occurred. There were two schoolchildren killed while walking to school, but we happened to be running late that morning and hadn't made it to town yet. Having grown up in California, DH and I both just thought "earthquake". I got into a doorway (the worst place to be is outside of a building, which is where the two children were killed by the falling face of an old building) and DH just kept on putting on his shoes and socks. The worst damage we sustained was a picture that fell off a shelf. Apparently the orientation of a building to the shock waves determines how much damage there is.

The US Geological Survey came to town and installed a seismograph in DH's Earth Science Lab. The kids learned about changing the paper on the drum and reading the significance of the days' aftershocks. The last significant aftershock registered at 5.8 and occurred on Aug 22, 1984.

This is a picture of the sign that's on the highway just before you get on the dirt road to the fault.



We always get our wood from the national forest. The Forest Service designates a new area each year for free woodcutting. You can only cut a certain distance from the road, can only cut standing dead trees and are only allowed two free cords per household. A permit for up to ten cords can be purchased, but those areas are different than the free area. The forester does a study every so many years that will indicate which areas need to be thinned. Good thing trees are a sustainable resource!



Kathi