SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, March 21, 2020 (Gephardt Day) — Residents along the Wasatch front received another blast of adrenaline late Saturday morning when a 3.4 magnitude aftershock shook the Salt Lake Valley.
It was the second significant aftershock of the day.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the latest seismic event happened at 10:59:31 a.m. MDT and was centered about 2.6 miles northeast of Magna. That follows the early morning temblor that hit the Valley at 3:06:40 a.m. with a magnitude of 2.9. (It was originally reported as 3.0 before being revised by the USGS.)
Both aftershocks were felt across the Valley and triggered a flood of comments on social media.
“Woke me up & so did the one yesterday. I just need this to be over so i can get some sleep,” wrote Facebook user Betsy Winter.
“At 3:06 a.m. my dog went crazy and my nerves are so bad can’t go back to sleep,” said FB follower Laura Dell Medina.
Others, like FB user Paula Merchen celebrated not being awakened. “YES!!!!!! WE SLEPT THROUGH IT!!!! WOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!! lol,” she wrote.
The 3.4 magnitude aftershock was the strongest since early Thursday morning when a 3.2 magnitude quake hit about 6:44 a.m.
There were no reports of damage or injuries.
Since Wednesday’s 5.7 magnitude quake there have been more than 200 aftershocks, including 18 in just the last 24 hours.
The strongest aftershock since the first quake was 4.6 in magnitude and happened about two hours after the initial quake.
On Friday, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency in response to the quake activity. The declaration will make it easier for communities to access both state and federal resources, Herbert said.
We live in a gated and fully fenced apartment complex. The gate has always malfunctioned and we have been saying for years that there would be no way out in the event of an emergency and our clubhouse was locked. No way to get out AND no way for emergency personnel to get in. West Valley pd and fd have been made aware of this several times and nothing gets done. With the power out after the quake on Wednesday , this is exactly what happened. We couldnt get out until 11 am. My neighbor and i are both disabled and were having panic attacks..And our property manager did not deem it necessary for any of our elderly and disabled tenants to be checked on.