SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - With recent devastating earthquakes in areas like Haiti, Chile, and Taiwan, Utahns are reminded of the shaky ground they live on.
Some people are worried that our planet is throwing a temper tantrum, but reality is that this is just part of the Earth's normal cycle of seismic activity.
What we have seen in Haiti and Taiwan happens about 17 times a year throughout the world. What happened in Chile occurs every once in a while. The good news is that there is no direct correlation between these earthquakes. The bad news is that Utah is just as prone to earthquakes as these other countries.
Utah has and again has the potential to get earthquakes up to a magnitude of 7 to 7.5. The Wasatch Front as well as other active faults within the state are all major areas for potential earthquakes.
Dr. Jim Pechmann, a seismologist with the University of Utah, is concerned that Utahns forget these important facts.
"If you don't get damaging earthquakes very frequently, then people tend to forget about the danger," said Pechmann.
The town of Wells, Nevada was recently reminded of how hard the ground can shake in February of 2008, and it can happen in Utah.
"Utah has had more than 36,000 quakes since 1962. Most go unnoticed, but in 1934 the Hansel Valley, 80 miles north of Downtown Salt Lake had a magnitude of 6.6 earthquake," said Pechmann. "The ground shook so hard, it caused the tower clock to fall out of the City and County Building."
The most active fault lines across the state follow the I-15 corridor from SE Idaho all the way down to St. George. When seen from the sky, you can actually see a scar from a millenia of movement where the bench ends and the mountains begin in the Salt Lake Valley. It's proof that the ground around here moves.
"Seismic activity is quite simple," said Pechmann. "For example, Haiti had a 'Slip Fault,' two plates moving in opposite directions. Chile had a 'Reverse Fault' where the ocean's crust is moving under the landmass of Chile. Here in Utah, we have a 'Normal Fault' where the mountains are trying to move up while the valley is trying to move down."
Currently, the ground around us is storing energy. Eventually, friction will no longer hold the ground in place and that's when we have earthquakes.
According to the Utah Division of Emergency Services and Homeland Security, if a large magnitude 7 quake were to hit the Salt Lake area, it's estimated that it would kill 2,000-3,000 people. Nearly 12% of our buildings would be damaged beyond repair. We would also have 30,000-40,000 injuries requiring medical attention and $26 billion in damages.
"It doesn't take a magnitude of 7-7.5 to cause a lot of damage," said Pechmann. "An earthquake on the magnitude of 5.5-6.5 would probably cause a lot of damage."
Experts say there is a 1 in 4 chance that an earthquake of this magnitude will hit Utah within the next 50 years.
For more information on earthquake prepardness in Utah visit
http://ussc.utah.gov/putting_down_roots.html and
http://www.bereadyutah.gov/
