From Deseret News archives:
It's 2008 and 'the big one' slams Utah
It is 2 p.m. on Feb. 1, 2008, a freezing, snowy Friday. Most people are still at work or school which, unfortunately, is the worst-case scenario for what is about to happen.
What will long be called the great Utah earthquake of 2008 is hitting the Wasatch fault near Salt Lake City and will measure 7.0 on the Richter scale a bit smaller than the 7.1 Loma Prieta earthquake near San Francisco in 1989, or the 7.5 that hit Lake Hebgen, Mont., near Yellowstone in 1959.
Of course, 2006 was also when Carey and numerous other officials warned that government could not handle such a catastrophe and said that personal and family preparedness would be the key to how people fare.
Utahns now will find they will need to depend on such preparation for far longer than officials in previous decades had once warned and may need to survive with their "72-hour" emergency kits for five days or longer.
Police, fire and other emergency responders will be too busy to reach most people for days so individuals and families will have to rely on themselves and their neighbors for help.
Warnings were correct
Local geologists warned as early as the 1880s that a big earthquake striking the Wasatch Front was not a matter of "if" but "when."
After all, about 700 earthquakes hit Utah every year including about 13 that are magnitude 3.0 or larger and are felt by residents. University of Utah geologists had said recently that the chance of a large earthquake on the Wasatch Front during the next 50 years is about one in five.
Recent comments
Anonymous,
You clearly don't understand Mormon history.
Joseph...
Ariel | July 18, 2009 at 7:56 p.m.
Yeah Uhm the earthquake has not happened yet you realize that right....
.... | Feb. 4, 2009 at 8:41 p.m.
Mormons really are stupid. Build the temple and city right on a fault...
Anonymous | Nov. 22, 2008 at 1:41 a.m.
- Aggies beat Spartans in snowy Logan 4:31 a.m.
- TCU 55, Utah 28 4:24 a.m.
- BYU 24, New Mexico 19 4:21 a.m.
- Jazz game at a glance 3:00 a.m.
- Real Salt Lake: Game at a glance 3:00 a.m.
- Stanford ends Y's soccer season 2:20 a.m.
- Jazz hope D-Will returns soon 2:19 a.m.
- Snow, SUU lose 2:18 a.m.
- Toone saves day for Wildcats 2:15 a.m.
- Win in New Mexico good for Y? 2:15 a.m.
- Apostle's wife felt comfort in attack
- BYU happy to escape with victory
- Can BYU root for (ick) Utah Utes?
- Crash on snowy road kills woman
- GameDay in Fort Worth
- D-Will home for daughter
- Short-handed Jazz fly past Sixers
- Utes excited for 'dream' game
- Bench proves fruitful for Y.
- Collie featured in Sports Illustrated
- SLC council OKs gay rights policies
358 - Editorial: Mormons and gay rights
200 - BYU happy to escape with victory
194 - Will state consider gay rights law?
148 - TCU creams U.
134 - Can BYU root for (ick) Utah Utes?
130 - Letters: Strange breed in Utah
129 - Utes remain silent about BCS
120 - Pratt pleads not guilty to sex charges
106 - Celtics crush Jazz
104
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