The earthquake struck just before 5 p.m., the USGS reported, with its epicenter 73 miles northeast of Meridian, Idaho—west of Challis. Its depth was reportedly 6.2 miles.
According to the site, thousands of people across several states reported shaking.
A health unit coordinator from a hospital emergency room on the front line of Idaho’s CCP virus outbreak in Blaine County—some 65 miles south of the epicenter—said he felt the quake, but that it didn’t interfere with the treatment of any patients.
“It felt like a wave going through the ground, so I knew right away what it was. It just felt like waves going through the ground,” Marcus Smith said, adding that the tremor added stress during an already stressful time for the region.
“Until the next one, I guess,” he said. “I mean, that’s what we do. We’re all good.”
A Stanley restaurant owner described the earthquake as a “roar” and said he heard the quake before he felt it.
“I heard the roar, and at first, it sounded like the wind, but then the roar was tremendous,” Brett Woolley said shortly after the quake struck. “The whole house was rattling, and I started to panic. I’m sitting here perfectly still, and the water next to me is still vibrating.”
“Boise, yes, you did feel an earthquake,” Boise Mayor Lauren McLean wrote on Twitter shortly after the quake.
Several social media users posted videos online that appeared to show household items shaking as the earthquake rattled the region.
The USGS reported a 4.8 magnitude aftershock.
The 6.5 magnitude quake struck less than two weeks after a sizeable 5.7 magnitude earthquake rattled a region outside Salt Lake City, causing damage to buildings and sparking evacuations.
No damage has been reported in Boise from the quake, and according to KTVB, there was a delay in reporting from USGS due to social distancing measures implemented because of the CCP (Chinese Community Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.
