A 5.7 magnitude earthquake shook Salt Lake City Wednesday morning, knocking out power to tens of thousands and prompting the governor to urge people to stay away from the capital’s downtown.
The quake was centered about 10 miles west of Salt Lake City and very near the city of Magna, starting at 7:09 a.m. MT, the US Geological Survey said.
The quake comes as Utah residents, like people across the world, are adjusting to changes brought by the coronavirus pandemic, including canceling schools and limiting mass gatherings.
Utah's refineries are still functioning after this morning's earthquake and the resulting aftershocks. We have NO concerns about our gasoline supply. https://t.co/RK3yrgbAdW
— Gov. Gary Herbert (@GovHerbert) March 18, 2020
Today’s main quake was a magnitude 5.7.
According to @UUSSquake there have been
• three magnitude 4 aftershocks
• numerous magnitude 3 aftershocksin a normal year, we might have one magnitude 4 earthquake. https://t.co/TrpJZajfnL pic.twitter.com/x2HHaHcfSo
— Utah Emergency Mgmt (@UtahEmergency) March 18, 2020
First flight has departed from SLC to DFW at 2:54 p.m. Flights that were diverted will be arriving soon. Check with your airline regarding possible cancellations or delays.
— SaltLakeCityAirport (@slcairport) March 18, 2020
Please stay away from the downtown area while crews assess damage. Unless you work in public safety, or are an essential employee, remain at home or telework.
— Gov. Gary Herbert (@GovHerbert) March 18, 2020
I was offline for the earthquake in Utah this morning.
How’re you doing? Anyone need to talk out the science? https://t.co/858E88bPyk
— Mika McKinnon (@mikamckinnon) March 18, 2020
Here’s the shaking intensity map for this earthquake. As you can see, the stronger shaking is felt around the magna area and less intense shaking radiates outward.#Utquake pic.twitter.com/ifLrgdWrzG
— Utah Emergency Mgmt (@UtahEmergency) March 18, 2020
Here are some tips and procedures during earthquakes and power outages:
https://www.ready.gov/earthquakes
https://www.rockymountainpower.net/outages-safety.html
https://www.utah.gov/beready/family/earthquake.html
