Earthquakes in $ 70 million caused damage to public infrastructure in Utah, and $ 629 million in economic losses

Salt Lake City – The 5.7 magnitude earthquake struck the Front front two months ago, and numerous aftershocks since then have slowly receded in recent weeks. State officials now say they have a better estimate of the damage caused by the earthquakes.

Governor Gary Herbert outlined the damage from the March 18 earthquake in an 18-page letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Friday. The message, which KSL.com received on Monday, will then be sent to President Donald Trump. Herbert says that there were up to $ 62 million of structural damage and he estimated the damage to public infrastructure to be more than $ 70 million. According to the message, most of the $ 70 million is covered by insurance, but just over $ 18.1 million remains uninsured.

He also states that Utah is seeking to cover this $ 18.1 million through the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, a program that allows affected states to recover some costs through federal funds. The governor issued a state of emergency on March 20 in relation to the earthquake.

“I have decided that this accident is so serious and so severe that an effective recovery is beyond the capabilities of the affected state and local governments,” Herbert wrote. “Complementary federal assistance is needed. I specifically request individual and general assistance and statewide risk mitigation grants for eligible applicants from Salt Lake and Twell provinces.”

The total cost of economic losses was estimated at $ 629 million, as calculated by the Federal Department of Emergency Management’s Hazus model. More than 100 residents were displaced by earthquake damage.

Earthquakes also caused more than 8,000 gallons of hydrochloric acid to leak from the Kincot Utah reservoir to mine the affected copper in Magna. The Unified Fire Department and the Utah National Guard responded and managed to prevent the chemical from affecting the population, but ended up scattering over the Great Salt Lake.

“The Immediate Response Unit continued to monitor air quality until risks are eliminated,” the message says.

Altogether, hundreds of buildings were searched for damage. At least two were destroyed, and more than 600 buildings were affected by the earthquake. The report found that 172 buildings received “severe damage”. Tooele police station and other city buildings, and buildings along Magna Main Street have been reported as being the most affected.

The letter says that the granite school district incurred more than $ 51 million in damages as a result of construction damage. Most of the cost of the damage was linked to West Lake Junior High in West Valley City, which the state stated had incurred $ 45 million in damages. The damage was severe enough for the school to be demolished and replaced. Granite School District officials said in April that the school would be moved to a building in Taylorsville for at least the next two years while this occurred.

A photo of the roof damaged inside the West Lake STEM Junior High School in West Valley City on Tuesday 31 March 2020. The damage was caused by a 5.7-magnitude earthquake that was centered near Magna on March 18. (Steve Griffin, KSL, File)

Cyprus High School, also in Magna, has incurred more than $ 3 million in damages. Many other schools have been affected across the Wasatch Front as well, and the report to the Federal Emergency Management Agency continues.

Utah State History Division officials said they recorded damage to about 150 historic buildings in Utah – most of them near the epicenter or around Salt Lake City. The Utah State Conservation Office found that the Rio Group Depot (which houses the state agency), Jackson’s apartments, and the CCG Howells building were unsafe. The Rio Grande building has remained closed since the earthquake.

Bricks that fell from Colosemo are photographed in Magna after a 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck early on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. (Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, KSL, file)

The letter also noted that the earthquake caused disruptions to Rocky Mountain Power, Dominion Energy and the Utah Transportation Authority, and even caused a major water outage that led to a short closure of Salt Lake International Airport. About $ 2.5 million in damage costs have been reported by the Utah State Department of Transportation, but this is not included in the request, according to the letter.

“We still do not know the full extent of the damage caused by the earthquake and after the aftershocks,” Herbert admitted. “Two months after the initial earthquake, we are still receiving new damage reports as well as updated damage assessments as engineers and repair teams are able to fully examine the damage.”

Fortunately, the country has reported no injuries and reported only a few injuries related to a 5.7-magnitude earthquake.

“In this case, I think Utah is really lucky because it has not pushed our capabilities to respond to the brink,” said Joe Dougherty, a spokesman for the Utah Public Safety Department. “We often look at the worst scenario that might be size 7, and it will completely overwhelm our country; it will overwhelm our first responders; it will overwhelm our economy, our facilities, and everything. It will be a disaster in the truest sense of the word.”

“A huge wake-up call”

In the two months since a 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck the Wasatch Front, there have been more than 2,000 aftershocks, including six in the range 4.0 or higher and dozens more were 3.0 or higher, according to University of Utah seismic stations. None of them were as strong as the major earthquake on March 18.

State officials say they believe it helped them find out where to prepare for the “Big”. Dougherty said that while experts tried to understand what was needed in the event of an earthquake to a public health crisis, this earthquake occurred during a different public health crisis.

“There were some wonderful things and relationships that were built by responding to the epidemic, if we continue with the worst earthquake scenario,” he said. “I think, in general, that we were happy to respond (to the March 18 earthquake) just because we hadn’t drowned. Firefighters and local authorities could go out and do some damage assessments relatively quickly,” he said.

The earthquake may also have helped attract Utah’s attention. While the earthquake 5.7 is still much smaller in size than the 7.0 earthquake that scientists have warned about, the March 18 earthquake may have helped Utah to understand the strength of earthquakes in general. This experience may, in turn, help them to better prepare.

The Desert News newspaper reported in a study conducted earlier this month by Scott Rasmussen for the newspaper and the Hinckley Institute at the University of Utah. It found that 52% of those surveyed took steps for the next natural disaster after the 18 March earthquake.

“These earthquakes are a wake-up wake-up call … … 80% of the state’s population lives and works alongside the Wasatch Front, and the earthquake has been felt throughout the northern part of the state, so we may have experienced more than two million people recently and added Dougherty.” “It is now in the collective memory of all Yutan at least 4 years and over, because my 4-year-old still talks about the earthquake, so it has become very real.”

Tips for getting better prepared for a natural disaster can be found on the state’s website.

Correction: An earlier version was incorrectly reported at West Lake Junior High in Magna; It is in West Valley City.

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