An earthquake occurred Tuesday afternoon in eastern Utah near the Colorado border.
According to U.S. Geological Survey, the earthquake was rated at a magnitude of 3.8.
“An M 3.8 earthquake is a minor earthquake. It is enough to feel, depending on the proximity,” said Rebecca Sumsion, University of Utah Seismograph Station communications specialist.
According to the impact survey, one person felt the quake in Moab and about a dozen people reported a light shaking in the Grand Junction area. No serious damage has been reported.
While there is still some uncertainty, the USGS reported that the quake ran about 6.8 kilometers deep and had a travel time residual of 0.2 seconds.
“Utah has thousands of earthquakes every year. A simple way to think about it is M1-2s are occurring all the time, an M3 happens once a month, an M4 happens about once a year, and an M5 happens about once every 10 years. Utah is capable of having an M6 and above, but the timing of such events is variable,” Sumsion said.
Sumsion indicated Utah has the potential for more catastrophic earthquakes (M7 and above) because of the Wasatch fault, but it is extremely rare.
According to the Utah Geological survey, larger earthquakes in Utah are a result of what is called a “normal fault.”
With a normal fault, Earth’s crust above the fault plane moves down compared with the crust below the fault plane. In a strike-slip fault, as in the San Andreas mountains in California, the two sides move past each other.
“The Wasatch fault consists of 10 segments. An M7 or bigger happens every 300 years, and the last one was about 300 years ago. That is why you hear people say Utah is overdue for a large earthquake,” Sumsion said.
In the past 100 years, the largest earthquake in Utah was rated a magnitude 6.6. It occurred in Hansel Valley north of Salt Lake.
