Utah Has 3 Shallow Quakes >3 In 48 Hours

'Definitely out of the ordinary!' 3 shallow earthquakes registering over M3.0 hit Utah in less than 48 hours - Signs for a larger, devastating quake?

Utah is an earthquake country and ‘typically’ experiences ‘around eight earthquakes a year that are magnitude 3. Well, three shallow earthquakes registering over M3.0 hit Utah in less than 48 hours. A M3.3 earthquake struck south of Fillmore, Utah, Saturday afternoon. The day before, M3.2 and M3.7 quakes occurred in Bluffdale, Utah. Bluffdale also experienced a M2.4 aftershock on Saturday. Authorities are unclear if the quakes are the precursor for a larger earthquake. All of the earthquakes were said to be shallow and no damage was expected. 

Three earthquakes registering over 3.0 in magnitude have hit northern Utah within a two day period. The latest occurred Saturday at about 3pm and clocked in at a 3.3 magnitude about nine miles south of Fillmore, Utah.

Utah Emergency Management pointed out that although Friday and Saturday’s earthquakes hit northern Utah, they did not occur particularly close to each other.

The agency tweeted that while it did not expect there to be an damage, it was likely that people felt the quake’s effects as it was eight kilometers deep — a shallow earthquake as defined by the USGS.  

The recent earthquake came hot on the heels of a pair of earthquakes that struck the Utah’s Bluffdale area on Friday morning. 

At 5.02am, a 3.2 magnitude earthquake was felt by residents. It was immediately followed by a second earthquake at 5.10am, which registered at a 3.7 magnitude. 

Utah Emergency Management noted that the over 3.0 magnitude earthquakes that hit Friday and Saturday occurred ‘quite a distance’ from each other.  

In response to tweeters’ questions about whether the multiple earthquakes could indicate that a larger earthquake is on the way, the agency said that the nature of earthquakes made it too hard to predict accurately. 

Officials have put the odds of a major Northern Utah quake at 50 percent over the next 50 years. The state’s most populous region – a multi-county stretch that houses more than 2 million people – sits between two precarious fault lines, the Wasatch and West Valley faults. If they erupted in tandem, the devastation could be catastrophic.