Tuesday, April 19, 2016

New Report - Earthquake Risk Along Wasatch Front

New Report - Earthquake Risk Along Wasatch Front


Article posted from KSL.com.

New report reveals \'disconcerting\' earthquake risk along Wasatch Front



The probability that at least one magnitude 6.75 earthquake could rattle the Wasatch Front in the next 50 years is 43 percent, a new report found.

"Think about that. That means flipping the coin, 1 out of 2 chances that we will have a big earthquake in the next 50 years," Wong said. "There is a really good chance that (Utah) will undergo a large, damaging earthquake in the Wasatch Front region. You can't get around that."

"The hazard and risk in the Wasatch Front region is higher than we had anticipated. I don't think anyone in the (study's) working group expected that the probabilities would be as high as they are," Wong said. "So the attitude that the big one will not occur in one's lifetime, that threat cannot be ignored and we need to change that attitude."

"For us, (the new probabilities) sound like reality," Dougherty said. "In the past, we've had kind of a broad range of possibilities, but now we know within our lifetimes and likely within our kids' lifetimes that that earthquake is going to happen. And that should wake a lot of people up."

Click on the link below to read the full article from KSL.com: