SINKHOLE • Megan Lacrue shows
the hole in her back yard that opened after the
earthquake last Friday and one that she fell into when
she went out to feed her dog. Speculation is that the
hole leads to an old cellar of a demolished house on
the property. Mike Lacrue, Megan's father, reported
that crews will dig up the area and properly fill in
the cellar this week.
By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Three small earthquakes occurred during the early
evening hours on Friday, Dec. 27, near Nephi, and if you
felt them you are invited to report what happened.
Jim Pechmann, a University of Utah seismologist, said
those who felt the quakes were invited to fill out a survey
form on the University of Utah Seismograph Station's Web
site, www.quake.utah.edu.
The first quake was at 5:39 p.m., the second a minute
later and the third three minutes after the second, said
Pechmann.
"The largest two were reported felt in Nephi and other
nearby towns," he said.
To date, there have been 28 reports made at the site
concerning the earthquakes recently felt in Nephi and Levan.
One report came from Fairview.
The three quakes were fairly small, Pechmann said,
with the first and last quakes registering at 3.8 magnitude
on the Richter scale. The middle one registered 3.6
magnitude which was about half the shaking intensity of the
other two.
All three were in a close proximity with the
epicenter's which was measured at approximately seven miles
southwest of Nephi and seven miles northwest of Levan, he
said.
In addition to the major shocks, said Pechmann,
several small aftershocks were recorded.
Pechmann said the quakes are not considered unusual,
but they were large enough to be felt by humans in the
immediate vicinity.
"There are plenty of faults in that area," he
said.
There are many quakes from the state which are
recorded at the University of Utah Seismograph Station.
As for the recent activity, he said, any resulting
aftershocks that were likely to be too small to be felt.
A 3.0 quake also stuck the Redmond area. about 30
miles south of Levan--the geographic center of
Utah&emdash;almost exactly 24 hours earlier at 5:33 p.m.
Christmas Day.
Almost a dozen smaller quakes, ranging from 1.0 to
2.2, were also recorded by the U.S.'s seismic station during
the past week in various sections of Utah.
Earthquakes in Nephi aren't unusual since Nephi is on
a fault line, said Nephi Mayor Chad Brough.
"If you contemplate it more, you think what you
would've done if it was a bigger earthquake," Brough said.
"But if you are prepared, there is no need to fear."
Brough said city workers and emergency responders are
trained and ready to react to many types of natural
disasters.
In the past, there have been several quakes reported
in Juab County. Most have been of approximately the same
magnitude as those recorded on Friday.
One occurred several years ago on a Sunday when many
of the area's faithful were in church services. It was
reported, at the time, that suspended lights swayed back and
forth.
Generally, new maps are automatically made for quakes
of magnitude 3.7 and greater (3 in certain urban areas).
Earthquake maps are automatically generated to cover a
preset distance from the epicenter of the earthquake. If the
earthquake is felt by a sizable number of people outside the
original map range, a zoomed-out map may be made manually.
"The shaking you feel from an earthquake depends on
the distance you are from the epicenter of the earthquake,
the structure you are in, the type of material under the
structure, and a variety of other factors," explained a
seismologist at the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S.
Geological Survey Community Internet Intensity Maps
site.
"If you are close, the shaking will be more violent
and 'faster.' If you are further away, the high-frequency
'fast' shaking will have been 'absorbed' into the earth's
crust, and all that you will feel are the longer-period,
more rolling motions."
Hard rock tends to shake less than softer sediment. In
addition, the distance from the epicenter will affect the
amount of shaking.
"If you are close, the shaking will be more violent,
faster, and may not last as long. If you are further away,
the high-frequency fast shaking will have been absorbed into
the earth's crust so that you will feel the longer period,
more rolling motions, and they may be of longer
duration."
During the last two months, in Utah and the west,
there have been several earthquakes, one of those in the
Nephi area on Dec 12.
That quake was 3.2 on the Richter Scale.
The earthquakes reported below occurred within Utah a
during the seven-day period as located by the University of
Utah Seismograph Station.
•03/12/23, 21:05:46, 1.6 2.8 mi SSE of N. Salt
Lake
•03/12/23, 21:13:56, 0.6 5.3 mi WSW of Wallsburg
•03/12/23, 21:21:03, 1.5 5.2 mi NW of Henefer
•03/12/25, 07:34:15, 3.0 2.6 mi WSW of Redmond
•03/12/26, 00:33:06, 3.0 4.2 mi WSW of Redmond
•03/12/26, 00:33:06, 3.0 3.2 mi SW of Redmond
•03/12/27, 00:39:24, 3.8 6.8 mi SW of Nephi
•03/12/27, 00:40:40, 3.6 7.1 mi NW of Levan
•03/12/27, 00:43:24, 3.8 6.4 mi SW of Nephi
•03/12/29, 01:04:33, 2.9 51.2 mi SSW of Green
River.
Also on Friday, there was a 6.6-magnitude quake
southeast of Iran.
There was a large earthquake on Monday which was felt
from Los Angeles to San Francisco, a distance of about 350
miles.
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