Days like Thursday, when a 6.0 magnitude earthquake sent shock waves into southern Idaho, are the days Bill Phillips dreams of.

He harbors no ill will, of course, toward the 1,300 residents of Wells, Nev., who today are cleaning up their town in the aftermath.

It's just that earthquakes are Phillips' business.

He's a research geologist at the Idaho Geological Survey, who sees "a silver lining" in Thursday's cloud of destruction. Because of a National Science Foundation program called EarthScope, the Wells quake could be one of the most recorded in history. Scientists like Phillips should be able to use information from hundreds of seismographs recently placed in Idaho, Nevada, Montana and Utah to learn more about how and why earthquakes happen.

"This earthquake will have been recorded by hundreds more seismographs than normal," he said from his Moscow office Thursday morning, about three hours after the quake struck.

The NSF program is moving hundreds of seismographs westward every 18 months in an ongoing effort to map the country's seismic activity. By chance, the bulk of those meters were placed near the epicenter of Thursday's quake.

That's a godsend to scientists in the interior West who don't have as much data on area earthquakes as scientists near legendary faults such as the San Andreas in California. Little is known about area fault lines in southern Idaho and northern Nevada compared with faults in California that have been studied for decades after major quakes, he said.

"It's a pretty rural area that just hasn't been studied as much," he said.

Scientists do know, however, the potential for quakes exists here. Idaho and Nevada both rank in the top five among states for earthquake risks, according to the Idaho Geological Survey.

Small quakes have been reported in Idaho as recently as last month, and the Wells quake struck "in an area in Nevada with known active faults," Phillips said.

The fault line that triggered the quake, known as a "normal fault," winds near the Wood Hills mountain range, said Shawn Willsey, a professor of geology at the College of Southern Idaho.

There are thousands of similar faults in the area, though none are likely to trigger major quakes like those seen in Southern California.

Hot volcanic rock below the Snake River Plain dampens most area trembles, which means they're more likely to happen in surrounding areas, such as the Sawtooth Mountains or Yellowstone National Park, Willsey said.

"Where we live, (the rocks) don't break and snap like cold, brittle rocks do," he said. "They tend to flow and deform."

Thursday's quake was triggered more than five miles underground and was felt as far away as Tucson, Ariz., according to U.S. Geological Survey reports. Aftershocks could ripple through the area for days. But could "foreshocks" have signaled an imminent quake?

Perhaps, Phillips said, though earthquakes are even less accurate than forecasts of volcanic eruptions.

"It's a hotly debated field," he said. "Most scientists don't think earthquakes are predictable."

Scientists from the Nevada Seismological Lab in Reno traveled to the Wells area Thursday to examine the meters and look for an actual chasm caused by the quake. But two feet of snow on the ground could delay them.

It'll likely be late this spring before scientists can draw conclusions from the Wells quake, Phillips said. But that's better late than never.

Matt Christensen may be reached at 735-3243 or at matt.christensen@lee.net.

Significant earthquakes in Idaho history 1. Nov. 10, 1884. Paris, Franklin County The earthquake damaged houses considerably in Paris, about 100 km southeast of Pocatello, near the Idaho-Utah-Wyoming border. 2. Nov. 11, 1905. Near Shoshone, Lincoln County Cracks formed in the walls of the courthouse and schools in Shoshone, and plaster fell from ceilings in almost all the buildings. Felt from Salt Lake City, Utah to Baker, Oregon. 3. May 13, 1916. Boise The earthquake wrecked several brick chimneys at Boise and sent residents rushing into the street. 4. Dec. 19, 1957. Northern Idaho Timbers fell and mine walls collapsed at the Galena Silver mine near Wallace, Shoshone County. 5. Sep. 11, 1963. Central Idaho Plaster fell in buildings at Redfish Lake, south of Stanley in Custer County; a window pane was broken at a fire station in Challis National Forest. 6. April 26, 1969. Ketchum, Blaine County Cracks formed in concrete floors of structures in Warm Springs and Ketchum. Plaster was cracked at Livingston Mill, 20 km south of Clayton. 7. Mar. 28, 1975. Eastern Idaho In the Ridgedale area of the sparsely populated Pocatello Valley, this quake shifted several ranch houses on their foundations and toppled many chimneys. Total property damage was estimated at $1 million. 8. Nov. 27, 1977. Cascade, Valley County Property damage was reported only at Cascade, a few kilometers east of the epicenter, near Cascade Dam. Also felt in Oregon. 9. Oct. 28, 1983. Borah Peak, Custer County The Borah Peak earthquake is the largest ever recorded in Idaho - both in terms of magnitude and in amount of property damage. It caused two deaths in Challis, and cost an estimated $12.5 million in damage in the Challis-Mackay area. - Courtesy Idaho Geological Survey