HUNTINGTON — The first call about a collapse at the Crandall Canyon Mine three weeks ago came from the University of Utah seismograph station, not the mine.

Workers at the mine actually called three minutes after Walter Arabasz, the director of the seismograph station, called 911 in Emery County. The recordings were provided to media on Monday by the Emery County Sheriff's Office.

In his call at 3:44 a.m. on Aug. 6, Arabasz said that readings near the mine from 2:48 a.m. showed a seismic event of about 4.0 magnitude (it was later revised to 3.9). Although he did not say it was caused by a collapse, he told the dispatcher that it looked like it was caused by something that happened in a mine.

"Just from the general character of the seismic event, it looks like it might be a coal mining related event," Arabasz told the dispatcher.

At 3:47 a.m., a worker at the mine, Mark Toomer, called to report a collapse. He did not say there were any injuries or ask for additional rescue personnel, but simply suggested that they start an ambulance up the canyon toward the mine.

"We had a big cave-in up here, and we're probably going to need an ambulance," he said on the call. "We're not sure yet, because we haven't heard from anybody in the section. But we're most likely going to need one up here."

The collapse filled the mine shaft where six miners were working with rock and coal, although it is not known if the miners were buried. Those six — Kerry Allred, Don Erickson, Luis Hernandez, Carlos Payan, Brandon Phillips and Manuel Sanchez — have not been heard from since that morning.

Mine officials and federal safety workers have tried since then to locate the miners, but after they have drilled six holes from above the mine they have not discovered any signs of them.

Underground rescue efforts have been suspended since Aug. 16, when another cave-in killed three rescue workers.

The call from Arabasz further contradicts mine owner Bob Murray, who maintains that the collapse was the result of a seismic event not caused by the mine.

Murray and officials from the Mine Safety and Health Administration canceled a scheduled media briefing this evening at the canyon entrance. They were not available for comment.

Today also was the deadline for workers laid off from the Tower Mine near Price to decide whether to relocate to other states for jobs at other Murray-owned mines. He temporarily closed the Tower mine, which employs approximately 170 miners, for safety reasons.

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Contributing: The Associated Press

E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com