A magnitude 5.7 earthquake shook up northern Utah with its epicenter in Magna. Utah residents have been hearing about the “Big One” for decades. 

The Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) was warning residents to prepare their emergency kits and take their cars out of their garages in fear that the earthquake that struck at approximately 7 AM, Wednesday was just a prelude to a larger quake.

There were a series of subsequent aftershocks which measured between 3 and 4 on the Richter scale, but nothing so serious to topple many brick structures. And as of 11:40 AM, no more serious tremors have been felt.

We personally felt the earthquake in our brick home in Sugar House. The initial quake was the most severe I’ve felt in my 44 years. It began with a strong up-and-down jerking motion. We were fearing a collapse of our walls so we headed outside. There the quake continued for another couple of minutes where we witnessed our large catalpa tree swaying back and forth and telephone lines also swaying. 

For the next half hour, there were at least three subsequent tremors where our wine glasses were banging in our kitchen. Our neighbor Heather came over to join us for coffee. She told us her son is panicking and believes the “world is coming to an end.”

Despite this coming on the heels of the CoronaVirus, we do not believe the world is coming to an end. We believe that people are by-in-large overreacting and this could further stoke panic.

Hoarding toilet paper is a symptom of the greater problem of a wide-spread sense of unease and irrational panic. We strongly believe that when times become uncertain, strange and unpredictable we should be reaching out to our families, local community and neighbors. The idea that we need to completely isolate, makes no sense. We need to gather in small groups and maintain rational distancing.  In times like these, we do not believe you should determine your degree of panic and fear, based upon local and national television news coverage.  Their earnings are based on stoking fear and panic. 

We would like you to share your stories with us. What are you going through in your neighborhoods? How is your family responding to both the Coronavirus and now this Utah earthquake? 

If you need to know how to best prepare for a large quake click here to listen to our Utah Stories Show episode about Utah earthquake preparedness.

Or watch the video:

Let us know what you are thinking in the comments below.