A strong, 5.7 magnitude earthquake hit the Salt Lake City, Utah area early Wednesday morning. The epicenter was just west of Salt Lake City near West Valley City, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
🚨 NEW VIDEO 🚨
A preliminary 5.7 magnitude #earthquake shook Salt Lake City about an hour ago.
Video courtesy: @davenoriega#SaltLakeCity pic.twitter.com/MlZhNfNxxB
— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) March 18, 2020
Video credit: Dave Noreiga via Twitter
Most of the preliminary reports have been for light to moderate shaking near the center of the earthquake, while many people said they felt at least some very light shaking throughout the Salt Lake Valley.
There were pictures on social media of newly-formed cracks in roads and some buildings. The United States Geological Survey does not expect any landslides from this event. The earthquake struck at a depth of about 10.6 kilometers, or roughly 6.5 miles deep.
Picture credits: (top) Mrs_Cha24 (bottom) Cody Ramos
Several aftershocks were reported in the area during the day on Wednesday. Noted seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones warned residents in the area to be ready for more earthquakes due to aftershocks.
The M5.7 is having plenty of aftershocks as expected. ~6% of the time, a quake is followed by a larger one within a couple of days. The Wasatch fault is a long fault, capable of much larger events. Most likely nothing bigger will happen but residents should be ready, just in case
— Dr. Lucy Jones (@DrLucyJones) March 18, 2020
We will provide continued updates as they become available.