CACHE COUNTY, Utah, Jan. 3, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Four earthquakes in less than 24 hours have captured the attention of folks in northern Utah.
The four small temblors have been centered near Benson in Cache County northwest of Logan.
The first quake hit Monday at 6:27 a.m. and measured a magnitude 2.6 according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
A second quake came Monday night at 10:50 p.m and measured a slightly stronger magnitude 2.9.
The third quake struck in the same area about 4 hours later, at 2:38 a.m. Tuesday and was recorded as a magnitude 2.7, the USGS said.
Forty-five minutes later, at 3:23 a.m, a fourth, weaker microquake hit the region, says a post on the University of Utah Seismograph Stations website. Microquakes are low intensity seismic events, usually unfelt, measuring magnitude 2.0 or below.
Hundreds of people reported feeling the quakes, and while there were no reports of significant damage or injuries it was clear these seismic events had people on edge.
“Holy crap, seriously! I had never felt an earthquake in my life until this morning when it woke me up out of my sleep and now this one! 2 in one day?,” wrote a Facebook user after the Monday night quake. “They were too far apart to be an aftershock right?”
“Yep. We thought a semi ran into our house!,” another Facebook user responded.
“I may just be going crazy with anxiety right now but I seriously feel like I am still feeling the ground slightly shaking and shifting a bit,” wrote yet another social media user.
Utahns have a right to be skittish, especially those living near the active 240 mile long Wasatch Fault, which runs from southern Idaho to central Utah.
The seriousness of the state’s earthquake threat was driven home the morning of Wednesday, March 18, 2020, when a magnitude 5.7 quake struck three miles outside Magna. While there were no fatalities or serious injuries, damage from the unsettling event was estimated at $68 million.
Since the 2020 quake the U of U Seismograph Stations have reported more than 2,700 related aftershocks.
Despite the worry, a woman living in Amalga had a sense of humor in her Facebook post. “I wondered if it was an earthquake! Woke Taylor & I out of dead sleep and we are heavy sleepers lol! I thought a tractor hit my house or something. Should have seen us walking around the house trying to figure out what happened.”
