Wyoming hit by quake; slide reported

October 25, 2010|Associated Press

JACKSON, Wyo. — A magnitude 4.6 earthquake hit northwest Wyoming yesterday, apparently triggering a landslide on a hiking trail, but no injuries were reported.

The US Geological Survey said the quake hit at about 11:45 a.m. Several hours later, an aftershock with a magnitude of 4.0 was recorded. Both tremors were shallow and centered about 20 miles northeast of Jackson in Teton County.

Mary Cernicek, a spokeswoman for the Bridger-Teton National Forest, said rangers were investigating reports that a landslide covered about a quarter-mile of a trail in the national forest near the epicenter. The landslide reportedly stopped short of a highway in the area.

Cernicek said some hikers may have been farther up the trail, beyond the landslide, but she didn’t know how many. She said no one is believed to have been in the slide.

The slide would not have prevented hikers from getting out of the park, Cernicek said. She said a ranger was checking to see if anyone was on the trail.

The National Park Service said several earthquakes have rattled the region in the past few months. A series of quakes were reported in the Jackson area in August.

The Jackson area is part of a seismically active region in which earthquakes are common. It includes rock formations that are slowly being deformed, producing active faults.

The 3.4-million acre Bridger-Teton forest includes more than 3,000 miles of road and trails.