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5.7-Magnitude Quake Shakes Utah, Salt Lake Airport Closed
A 5.7-magnitude earthquake shook Salt Lake City and its suburbs early Wednesday, sending spooked residents fleeing their homes, knocking out power for tens of thousands and closing the city's airport.
The epicenter was just southwest of Salt Lake City, between the city's airport and the Great Salt Lake. The temblor and its aftershocks physically and mentally rattled approximately 2.8 million people who are already hunkered down amid the coronavirus epidemic.
There were no initial reports of injuries, said Utah Emergency Management spokesman Joe Dougherty.
Operations at Salt Lake City International Airport came to a halt and the control tower and concourses were evacuated. Planes headed to Salt Lake City were diverted while officials conducted a runway inspection. Police blocked the road to the airport, allowing in only those who were picking up passengers.
No runway damage was found and most of the damage in the terminal appears caused by a broken water line, said the airport's executive director, Bill Wyatt.
He said he expected the airport to reopen in "hours not days."
The quake also shut down the light rail service for Salt Lake City and its suburbs.
Residents reported feeling shaking across a 100-mile (160 kilometer) area, with the heaviest impact in Salt Lake County, officials said.
Some residents ran from their homes and into the streets as they felt the earthquake shake buildings for 10 to 15 seconds.
There were some reports of damage, but authorities did not expect it to be severe. The quake sent bricks showering from a homeless onto the sidewalk below.
In downtown Salt Lake City, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' iconic Salt Lake Temple sustained minor damage, with the trumpet falling from the Angel Moroni statue at the top of the temple and stones displaced from a spire.
The temple is undergoing renovations and a seismic upgrade. Construction crews have been sent home while the damage is being assessed, church spokesman Daniel Woodruff said in a statement.
Gov. Gary Herbert warned people to stay away from downtown Salt Lake City while officials assess damage.
But authorities did not expect to find severe damage in most structures, said Doughtery, the emergency management spokesman.
"We're hearing of lights falling down, bookcases falling down, we've heard of water lines breaking inside of buildings," Dougherty said.
People reported feeling the quake in the neighboring states of Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming and Nevada.
About 73,000 homes and businesses lost electricity in the Salt Lake City area, but power was quickly being restored in some areas, said utility Rocky Mountain Power.
It was the largest earthquake to hit Utah since a 5.9 magnitude quake shook southern Utah in 1992, according to Utah Emergency Management.
Most shaking was reported in the Salt Lake County area, near the epicenter in the Salt Lake City suburb of Magna but the quake was felt 80 miles away (130 kilometers) in the Utah city of Logan.
After the initial quake struck at 7:09 am, the geological survey recorded four smaller quakes over the next 23 minutes, ranging in magnitude from 3.7 to 3.9.
Dougherty recommended that people check on their neighbors, but that advice that could be challenging when people are being told to say inside their homes to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
"This is the time for people to really do the right thing, make sure everyone is taken care of," Dougherty said. "But we still do need to remember we have a pandemic going on at the same time."
March 19, 2020 at 02:41AM
