5.7-magnitude quake shakes Utah, closes airport
SALT LAKE CITY » An earthquake shook millions of people across metro Salt Lake City Wednesday, closing an international airport hub, showering bricks onto sidewalks and damaging a spire and statue atop the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ iconic Salt Lake Temple.
The epicenter of the 5.7-magnitude quake was just southwest of Salt Lake City, between the airport and the Great Salt Lake. The temblor and its aftershocks physically and mentally rattled approximately 2.8 million people who are already hunkered down amid the coronavirus epidemic.
“This is extremely bad timing, because we already have the coronavirus issue going on right now causing a lot of anxiety,” Gov. Gary Herbert said.
There were no reports of injuries in the hours immediately after the 7:09 a.m. quake, Utah Emergency Management spokesman Joe Dougherty said.
Operations at Salt Lake City International Airport came to a halt and the control tower and concourses were evacuated. Planes headed to Salt Lake City were diverted while officials conducted a runway inspection. Police blocked the road to the airport, allowing in only those who were picking up passengers.
Far fewer people than normal were in the airport because of mass cancellations caused by the coronavirus outbreak. On a typical travel day, the airport would have had about 24,000 people inside it and more making connections. But there were just 9,000 there, said the airport’s executive director, Bill Wyatt, making an evacuation of the terminal easier.
No runway damage was found following the inspection and most of the damage in the terminal appeared to be caused by a broken water line. Wyatt said he expected the airport to reopen in “hours not days.”
The quake also shut down the light rail service for Salt Lake City and its suburbs.
Residents reported feeling shaking across a 100mile area, with the heaviest impact in Salt Lake County, officials said.