Jackson Hole earthquake underscores landslide worries

Last month's 5.0-magnitude earthquake near Jackson raised worries of another natural disaster: It caused the West Broadway Landslide to lurch forward 1 millimeter.

Normally the slide moves half a millimeter each week.

Former Wyoming state geologist Wally Ulrich says that that had the quake occurred closer to town, or during a time of year with wetter conditions, the slide's movement could have been far more substantial.

With the world's largest volcanic caldera in Yellowstone and hundreds of faults throughout the valley, Jackson Hole is fairly active geologically.

The Jackson Hole New and Guide reports that the town is in the process of completing designs to stabilize the portion of the landslide on town-owned property, but work is not expected to begin until next spring.