For the past week or so, there have been several small earthquakes or "tremors" in the Salt Lake Valley. They seem to be centered in Bluffdale. Has anyone here on the RfM forum experienced an earthquake? Do these little tremors mean that a big earthquake is coming down the pike? We're going to do some shopping and get some necessary things to last us a couple of days if we need them. Is it a good idea to agree to have a meet up place for after a quake,or is it better to stay where you are? Much thanks in advance for your comments and answers.

Hi, I’ve been wondering the same thing: are they foreshocks to a bigger one? Loading up w stuff is a good idea. Meetup places are what our family has designated. We experienced w CA fires that in an emergency, getting out of an area can be very difficult. Can you go somewhere now for a month or so?

Hi Kathleen, one of our daughters lives in California and told us that we can stay with her if we need to. It seems like a good idea to have a meet up place.

I often feel the smalk tremors. I was told by my geologist friend they happen all the time.

The last big one I felt in Utah was decades ago. I waz watching "the great eascape" a film about POWs tunneling out of a german prison camp. The quake hit right as the tunnel was collapsing in the show.

I had friends that oddly enough were at the movies watching one of great old disater movies of the Towering Inferno genre but it was the earthquake one. Some thought it was part of the special new fangled surround sound tech.

If a quake hit. Besides checking your gas line, I suggest turni g off the water to your house. A lot of old water mains could break and contaminate your drinking water. You'd still have your water heater and what ever water is in the pipes for your use.

Of course you've secured your water heater right?

I also understand it's good to have a local meeting place and a non local meeting place.

That's funny about watching disaster movies at those times! :D We do have our water heater secured; thank you for the reminder about turning off the gas line..

We've felt a couple of the smaller tremors. New reports over 100 small quakes near Bluffdale in the last week.

We live in a brick home built in the 50's. Several months ago I added earthquake insurance to my homeowner's policy. It is pricey but it gives me peace of mind.

Yes, I'm a little paranoid about the "big one". I think Utah is overdue.

I remember the earthquake on the East Coast, about 7 years ago.We lived in VA, about half an hour from DC when my husband was still in the military.We were in NJ at the time, after his father dies and we heard a loud rumbling,that we thought was a trash truck emptying the dumpster behind the hotel room.We found out later what it was.My parents in NC said that the sofa they were sitting on ,moved about 6 inches .
When we hit back home in VA, our fireplace glass was popped out and there was a big , long crack on the wall going down into the basement. It took a long time for repairs , as they were backed up by damages. A lot of people thought of the 911 attacks,all over again ,because some areas sounded like explosions.

I grew up in Los Angeles, so earthquakes and wildfires were fairly common occurrences (plus FLOODS, when I was in junior high!), but the Sylmar quake (which destroyed the beautiful, 1920s, cinematic, Greco-Classic buildings at the high school I graduated from) was like a "high school graduation" in itself for the public at large....

....and the later Northridge quake was university and post-grad all wrapped up into one. (The Northridge quake, the WAY it shook, was MEAN--and everyone who lived through it, in addition to those who unfortunately died, mostly from pancaked apartment houses, commented on how "different" it felt from the earthquakes we were already familiar with.)

Here's what I learned from the Northridge quake:

For a period of time (days, or weeks) you are going to be without utilities, and living on what is in your cupboards and refrigerator (a refrigerator you open as seldom as you can, since there is no power to actually refrigerate the food), because the stores will be closed, the shipping of food will have ceased, and there may be impassible streets or areas due to street damage, or the danger of gas lines which suddenly burst into flame (or, in our case, mountainsides coming down onto freeways).

You need water in bottles (we ALWAYS have at least six, gallon bottles of distilled water, we drink out of our own individual, current, bottles, and our bottled water supply is, thus, regularly rotated on a weekly basis).

The canned or dried goods in your cupboards will likely be what you will be eating for at least a week. In Southern California, we mostly have the option of opening cans and setting them outside in the sun, which will get the contents at least somewhat "warm."

If you have a swimming pool, you are among the most fortunate, because you will have water to wash in (more than anyone else is likely to have for awhile), and water to flush the toilets with (one of the greatest and most wonderful luxuries during the aftermath of an earthquake). If you don't have a swimming pool (we do not, at this present moment), then you muddle along as well as you can.

After Northridge, it took well more than a week before we had water available from the taps and showers, so no one I am aware of was taking a shower (or washing clothes, etc.), because I remember very vividly taking my [dying, at that time] father to a doctor's appointment in Ventura County, and apologizing to the receptionist, etc. because none of us had washed properly, or done laundry, in days (though we were able to brush our teeth with bottled distilled water, so that bit of "regular life" was pretty good).

As a nevermo, one of the real difficulties of food storage, as I understand that Mormons practice it, is that Mormon food storage depends upon frontier conditions (the ability to create a fire to cook or warm, the ability to go to the river to get water for cooking, or to drink) in order to work.

In contemporary times, if there is no electric or gas service (and everyone is petrified of gas lines being sparked into flame), all that wheat, all those beans or rice or whatever, all of that flour--they are all totally useless. You can't use a stove, you can't bake anything, and you are zealously rationing the amount of times you open the refrigerator or freezer door, because you cannot regain refrigeration once you've let it out.

And, something I learned from a horror comic book I was reading in music class when I was in junior high: MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A [manual!!] CAN OPENER!! In the comic book story (written during the height of the Cold War) the guy in the story had zealously stockpiled his many cartons of canned food, he had irretrievably locked himself into his totally safe, self-constructed, state-of-the-art bomb shelter....and it was only THEN that he discovered he had forgotten to include a can opener among his supplies.

Obviously, the moral of that story was never forgotten by this former junior high school student--to the point where I can still remember that guy's exact expression in the comic book, and the exact desk in our classroom where I read it.

So: check to see that you have working, MANUAL (remember: No Electricity Will Be Available!!) can openers, and do this BEFORE you irretrievably "lock yourself in" behind your metaphorically indestructible bomb shelter doors.

Can openers are just as important as canned food (and bottled water).



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2019 05:22PM by Tevai.

I lived in Northridge at the time of that quake. I have vivid memories of the event.

The chimney cracked away from our house. Several cinderblock fences tumbled. The water in the pool swayed from the motion causing the water to splash out of the pool. The water level was about 6" lower in the pool. We had one crack in a wall in the house. Immediately after, there was an eerie stillness with some dogs howling and some dust in the air.

It happened early in the morning. I was up getting ready for seminary that was held before school. I was in high school. I remember stumbling into the hallway walls trying to get to my parent's bedroom during the swaying. There were loud rumbles.


My friend promptly came to pick me up for seminary that morning. School was cancelled so she took me home and headed for the beach- probably not the smartest thing to do after a quake.

It was interesting and frightening to experience.

I hope all the small ones in Utah are relieving whatever pressure and that they will cease soon!

Having lived in southern California my whole life, the thing I can say is that I've never experienced foreshocks before the Northridge or other significant earthquake. From what I've experienced, they tend to hit with no previous warnings.

I lived through the Northridge earthquake, but far enough from the epicenter to be among the lucky ones who had power restored quickly, and no damage. Still, I agree that the Mormon idea of food storage doesn't make sense since if your house is condemned, you can't get to your food storage. If your house is burned down from a gas line explosion or flooded by a tsunami if you're near the coast, that food storage is gone. Also, having grains while having an electric grinder isn't going to help much, as you would really need a hand cranked one. The only thing that does make sense is the 72 hour kit, which should really be a 96 hour kit since it might take longer than 72 hours to be able to return in an evacuation situation. Like Utah, southern California is overdue for the Big One as the San Andreas fault is a real threat.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2019 03:06PM by doyle18.

The Northridge quake was horrible. I lived in Ventura and felt it. My buddy lived in Northridge in a home off of Parthenia. A mile or so away from that apartment complex that went from 3 stories to 2 stories in 10 seconds. His house had some damage, mostly to his fireplace and stuff falling on his car in the garage. His wife was a private nurse for Larry Flynt. He had 3 nurses, round the clock, working 8 hour shifts. She had just left Northridge for the Hollywood Hills around 4:15am to report by 5am. and just missed being on the road there by 15 minutes. What a scary mess.

The East has awful storms and sometimes tornadoes, So. Calif. has earthquakes.

The last one we had knocked a ketchup bottle off my shelf (but it didn't break).

My husband stood under a door way, but I went out side (a few steps from the doorway).

Me immediate neighbors did OK also. But through the block, a brink fence or two crumbled a bit.

And a tall bkcase fell against the hallway wall (and several books fell of the shelves).

So now I have a sturdy cord that attaches the tall bkcase to the hallway wall (and elsewhere), with sturdy cords across each shelf to hold the bks in place.

And, I always have plenty of bottles of water stored in my breakfast rm off the kitchen, and keep sturdy slippers for my feet to go into, to help avoid steeping on broken glass.

Being prepared as much as possible doesn't cost anything, and could be a life-saver in an emergency.

pollythinks Wrote:
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> ....and keep sturdy slippers for my feet to go into, to
> help avoid steeping on broken glass.

This is a really important precaution to take if you live in earthquake country.

In a bad quake, there are often countless glass shards "everywhere" (including places you don't think are vulnerable).

Easily-accessible foot protection from that broken glass is essential if you're going to come out the other end without any injuries.

We live about 4 miles from the epicenters coming from Bluffdale. They are not tremors. I lived in CA. A 4.5 feels about the same, at 7-8 miles away as a 3.8 does 4 miles away. This morning's (2:31 am) was only a 3.2, but it lasted for 10 seconds. The thing that pisses me off, is that some of the news stations have had guys on telling people that these "little quakes" are actually good. Just relieving pressure building up, and avoiding larger quakes. That is patently false and don't relieve any pressure, but may be a sign of bigger quakes to come;

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2019/02/22/earthquakes-hit/

Your question is tough to answer since there are so many variables about where you will all be if a big one hits and it's chaos. I'd just get some basic supplies. Food that doesn't have to be cooked with gas or electric. A few cases of bottled water. Good flashlights with lots of batteries. And ammunition.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2019 05:33PM by stillanon.

And you know this how ?

Because I read the article that I linked and also Googled the issue. I suggest that you try it, too.

I think if there is a big earthquake in the Wasatch mountains of 6.0 or bigger it would potentially be disastrous, but probably not like if it were to hit in say downtown Los Angeles or San Francisco because it's in the mountains and the population there is less dense and spread out.

It's always good to be prepared though for an emergency.

There's fault lines throughout the Great Lakes region like the Wasatch mountains, but nothing major just tremors.

Idaho had an earthquake around 40 years ago in the Island Park area. It caused 2-3 deaths. "Island Park, ID has a very high earthquake risk, with a total of 2,205 earthquakes since 1931. The USGS database shows that there is a 90.77% chance of a major earthquake within 50km of Island Park, ID within the next 50 years. The largest earthquake within 30 miles of Island Park, ID was a 5.3 Magnitude in 1976."

https://www.homefacts.com/earthquakes/Idaho/Fremont-County/Island-Park.html

If the fault line runs past Temple Square, that cloud could have a silver lining.

A few small eqs do not mean a big eq is coming soon. Bluffdale sits at the end of the salt lake segment of the Wasatch fault and the eqs could be on a smaller fault in the Wasatch fault zone.

There are lots of small eqs (mag 1-3) on the Wasatch all the time, and occasionally a mag 3 or 4. Small quakes are expected because of something called the Richter Gutenberg relation, which means there are lots and lots of small eqs and only a few big ones. It's a 10:1 relation meaning 10 times more 1s than 2s, 10 times more 2s than 3s etc., so we should expect lots of 1-3 mag eqs and very, very few eqs larger than a 5.

That being said, a big mag 7+ will happen. It could be tomorrow or 100 years from now. It pays to have eq insurance and a 24 hour kit etc. EQ ins is particularly important if you live in an old brick or cinder block house or an old house with a rock foundation (like the Aves and other older areas of SLC). Wood frame homes are much safer.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2019 09:12PM by delbertlstapley.

https://quake.utah.edu/earthquake-center/quake-map

I thought this site was pretty interesting. There are a lot more earthquakes in Utah than I'd previously thought.