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Salt Lake City Earthquake Risk Investigation Findings

Originally posted: Dec 2 2020; Last edited: Dec 5, 19 2020

Index

  1. Motivation
  2. Reading and Findings
  3. Conclusions
  4. Suggestions 

Motivation

I'm a digital nomad. I visited Salt Lake City for the first time a few years ago after leaving a major east-coast city to travel around the country and find a solid place to homestead. I was visiting an old friend of mine in SLC for a couple days (who, incidentally, was the one who asked me to write this blog post to share my findings). I have to admit, embarrassingly, to having wondered initially why anyone would want to live in such a place. Someone recently told me that it's a common first impression, and perhaps one which is desired, in order to keep out the Californians. It might've been understandable for an inexperienced traveler who'd just left a major city to try his hand at farming. Fast-forward a few years of travel and many crazy stories later, and I actually found myself living here part-time, evaluating moving here and putting down roots. Among many other hidden benefits, I discovered that Salt Lake City residents are overwhelmingly surprisingly bright, intelligent, and warm people - I found a sense of genuine community, which is something one doesn't expect to find in a city. I quickly fell in love with the gardens that grow in surprisingly great soil, and the fact the area is also home to some of the best and most varied outdoor climbing, and some of the strongest climbers, made it hard for me to resist. Close friends began to convince me. But after getting over my initial concerns, there remained one concern I couldn't shake. It appears to be a virtual certainty that extreme damage will be done to the majority of buildings and infrastructure within Salt Lake City by a devastating 7.0-7.5 earthquake sometime within the next 100 years. Granted, there is evidence of certain more-extended periods of tectonic quiet between these large quakes. But from personal investigation, I found while most residents are aware that a greater quake will occur, few to none were aware of the true extent of the survival risks they might face as a consequence. 

Some people I met were planning to leave as soon as possible, while others were simply unable to leave due to ties to the area. Certain high value buildings have had seismic safety retrofitting performed but there remains an immense risk. So naturally I felt confused, until my friend wanted to see my notes, which actually led me to learn even more concerning things. My personal interpretation is that the event is going to happen and will quickly lead to a major humanitarian crisis that we'll wish we had taken more seriously. I think there are still urgent questions like whether enough money is being raised and funneled towards the safety of schools, highways, and utilities; whether the rest of the country (who may be interested in helping) is aware that SLC is facing such a risk; whether occupancy of certain e.g. mid-rise brick buildings in the city should even be considered lawful (or whether they can be considered habitable); and whether the city is actually prepared for or comfortable with the numbers of displaced and survival risks.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a geologist, but I have no formal training in seismology. I made this writeup to submit my amateur findings from reading things which are already known by certain parties, to document some preparatory measures that residents ought to undertake, and to suggest a more organized and focused call-to-action by the city in order to respond to the significant risk to life, property, and economic momentum in this city.

I wrote this post while staying on the 7th floor of a recent construction in downtown amid numerous old mid-rise brick constructions, which I began to envision, like the nearby supermarkets, at risk of complete collapse.

I have begun to request feedback from certain seismologists and geologists, and would encourage any professionals to participate in the discussion by leaving a comment below. 

Reading and Findings

This blog post includes some graphics and map imagery borrowed without permission from the original cited sources.

Highlights:

  • The Salt Lake area is at a unique and possibly imminent risk of sudden, extreme, widespread destruction and lengthy disruption due to an overdue, large earthquake – It seems most buildings are due to sustain major damage
  • 100,000 households will be displaced, most of which will need public shelter, which could be extremely dangerous especially in a wintertime scenario
  • Estimated 330,000 households will still be without potable water after 90 days
  • Almost 8 square miles of Salt Lake City will burn

The risk that Salt Lake City faces from earthquake damage is higher than other quake-prone areas. This is primarily for two reasons:

  1. Much of the city is either built on very deep lake sediment soil (which remains from Lake Bonneville - Seismic Profiling) – this deep lake sediment soil subsurface will behave like a liquid upon a strong quake (liquefaction) – or, to the east of the Wasatch Fault, near the foothills, built upon the bedrock, but which will be subject to severe shaking. Many houses are directly on the top of the fault. Evidence of these old, violent quakes proliferates and includes the tall vertical displacements of the crust known as scarps, which can be easily seen in these areas (images below). 
  2. Because these strong quakes are so infrequent ("lived here for 30 years and the 5.7 in early 2020 was by far the worst we've ever had"), the existing, dangerous structures such as URMs (unreinforced masonry) have not been destroyed over the years given lack of moderate quakes, and so were not yet required to be rebuilt/re-engineered to safe standards such as has occurred in quake-prone areas like California and Japan where a 5 to 6 is not considered such a major event.



 "Earthquakes larger than about magnitude 6.5 can rupture the ground surface, producing fault scarps from a couple inches high to up to 20 feet high and 40 miles long on the Wasatch Front. Fault scarps are hazardous building locations because they can reactivate during subsequent earthquakes." (Fault Lines in Utah Are Much Bigger Than Previously Thought, Study Says - April 2020)

Utah's fault systems are extensive and have the potential to produce extremely powerful earthquakes. While fault size models indicate these faults cannot produce quakes up to magnitude 9.0 (Magna Sequence FAQ), geological evidence shows that strong 7-7.5 'Big One' earthquakes happen along the various Wasatch front sections with an average frequency of about 1,200 years ("The Mapleton trench also revealed at least four previous temblors of magnitude 7 or greater going back 12,000 years." 2003), and that the Salt Lake City section is overdue for such a quake by about 70 years (citation needed) on the basis of quake frequency. 

"One [magnitude 7.0 earthquake] generally happens around every 300 years, according to Envision Utah, and the last one happened more than 300 years ago." (2020)

Stretches of the fault in places other than Salt Lake City, such as the Weber segment near Ogden, have experienced powerful quakes more recently as shown in our geological history than the Salt Lake City segment. 



But the last time a powerful quake happened in the SLC area was clearly before the first Mormon settlers arrived ("July 24, 1847") - the city simply did not exist the last time such a quake happened. This is in contrast to much more quake-prone areas such as those along the Ring of Fire.

The Salt Lake City-area 'Big One' scenario I talk about in this post is only one of the extremely unfavorable but possible earthquake scenarios modeled, as well ("Great Utah Shake Out - Earthquake Scenarios" shows multiple scenarios). It's just that the most likely place for a Big One to happen right now seems to be the SLC section. There is also evidence that multiple faults or fault segments are likely to be involved in a singular real Big One scenario, such as the Salt Lake City Segment-Wasatch and Weber Segment-Wasatch.

In early 2020, Salt Lake City received a wake-up call in the form of a rare 5.7 quake. There have continued to be earthquake swarms in the area near where there was recently a 5.7 quake – located very close to the SLC airport (U of U Recent Earthquake Map). As a non-professional, I don't know what the swarms mean, but I find them odd. A recent paper suggested there was some connection between swarms and large quakes on a different type of fault (2019).

"Severe" shaking from merely a Salt Lake City-area 7.0 scenario quake would radiate through the entirety of the SLC valley area all the way south to Draper and north to Farmington. 

But even a 6.0 quake would produce significant damage in the city because of safety issues with the buildings in Salt Lake City. 

In fact, a huge portion of buildings within the city are at major risk of complete structural failure when the next 7.0-like quake occurs (Fix The Bricks). 


This is a zoomed-out map indicating building damage estimates. It does in fact represent most buildings, except in places like Millcreek (corresponding incidentally to the yellow area in mid-right-center). The map indicates that the majority of buildings within Salt Lake City will be significantly compromised.

"Eighty to eighty-five percent (80-85%) of homes would sustain moderate to severe damages. Roads and freeways would be impassable and basic services suspended for weeks or months. ... About 99% of Yalecrest-area homes can expect 70-100% structure loss." (2020)

1. 

2. 

However, these estimates might not take into account other risk factors such as widespread landslides in the immense landscapes surrounding the city, which I speculate would even affect hilly neighborhoods like The Avenues (pictured above in 2).


Note the proximity of these landslides to residential areas on the north and eastern peripheries of the city. A recently updated FEMA report agrees:

"Landslide hazards are quite localized… Nevertheless, landslide hazards can be extremely disruptive to lifelines and elevate overall losses in susceptible regions" (FEMA - Hazus Earthquake Model)

Starting in 1975, building codes have incorporated quake safety construction standards, but most buildings that are not brand new constructions have not been retrofitted. The University of Utah campus, the state capitol building (2013), The Salt Lake Temple (2019), and at least one high school have collectively had millions of dollars spent only very recently to implement quake resistance measures. 77 schools in 2012 were still short of standards, and 36 rated as 'high hazard' by FEMA standards (2012).

Laws passed in 1975 require all newly built buildings to be engineered for earthquake safety, but brick or concrete buildings built before then are considered unreinforced masonry structures, which are especially susceptible to damage, and especially dangerous if they’re multiple stories, Carey said. Those are the structures that are most likely to collapse. “If you look around downtown Salt Lake City, you’ve got these four- or five-story unreinforced masonry apartments all over the place,” Carey said. “You could very well see loss of life there.” (2015) 

Given the extent and intensity of the energy released across the city in such a scenario, the majority of roadways and city infrastructure within the vicinity are at risk of major damage.

Many roads will not be passable. 
"Road displacement of only several inches can make a bridge unpassable." "How will more than 200,000 displaced residents be able to resume their normal lives? How will cities deliver potable water and re- build destroyed sewer and water treatment facilities? How will rescue workers reach population centers when freeways, highways, and surface streets are impassable?" (Scenario)
"Northern Utah can experience triple-digit daytime temperatures in summer and nighttime temperatures below freezing in winter. Extreme temperatures would significantly affect the survivability of persons requiring rescue or lacking shelter. If not rescued during the first 24 hours, many may succumb to their injuries and/or thermal exposure." (2012 - FEMA - Wasatch Range Catastrophic Earthquake Response Plan)
Search and rescue needs of those who were not even able to escape will be widespread.


Hospitals will be overwhelmed.


See USGS Wasatch Fault 7.0 Magnitude Scenario. Note that this scenario is only even looking at a 7.0 - not a 7.5 (up to 5x as much energy involved in a 7), as is also being suggested is possible.

Additionally, the initial quake strike is not the only risk. Secondary quakes are capable of bringing down buildings which the initial quake did not bring down (2015), and so I've seen evacuation from buildings has been recommended after the first quake, seemingly indicating the likelihood of a huge number of people seeking alternate shelter. 

"In the 30 days following a magnitude 7.0 earthquake, based on a reasonable aftershock model, we can expect up to three aftershocks greater than magnitude 6, 13 greater than magnitude 5, and 77 greater than magnitude 4." (7.0 Scenario)

"Models also predict that more than 62,000 people would need public shelter — which could be dire if an earthquake hits during freezing temperatures in winter. Nearly 100,000 households would be displaced here in a 7.0 quake, but not all would need public shelter as they huddle with friends or family." (2010)

I don't know how the numbers of displaced were calculated and what range of factors the models incorporate.

Utility system performance estimates indicate that more than 330k households will *still* be without potable water after 90 days (Lifelines - Utility Systems Performance - search for '90 day'). It's not clear to what extent residents will be able to travel through the city in order to obtain drinking water during this period of time due to the damage to roads. Waste removal/sewer will also be affected. 

Gas line breakage presents perhaps an even more significant potential source of damage as fire was historically a significant issue post-quake (1906 SF, 1989 Loma Prieta - search for 'fire').

"For example, after the Great San Francisco Earthquake in 1906, the city burned for three days. Most of the city was destroyed and 250,000 people were left homeless. Natural gas storage tanks burned at the Cosmo oil refinery in Ichihara city, Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo March 11, 2011." (Michael Haskins ePortfolio - Earthquakes…along the Wasatch Fault)

"Infrastructure that may be damaged and cause harm to the impacted population includes oil refineries and systems; natural gas, electricity, water and wastewater facilities and systems; and dams. In addition, there are numerous civil and government buildings used in the emergency response that may become destabilized or be threatened by fires. … Fires: 160 fires will burn about 7.62 sq. mi. in the Salt Lake Valley (2008 Hazus estimate) … 147 fire stations will remain functional at 50% or greater, but all fire stations sustain some structural damage" (2012 - FEMA - Wasatch…Response Plan)

Likelihood of a 'Big One' Quake Near Salt Lake City

Older specific intensity predictions suggested that "The chance of a large [6.5-7.5] earthquake in the Wasatch Front region during the next 50 years is about 1 in 4." (When and where...)

Some calculations have indicated a 50% chance within the next 100 years of a quake with sufficient energy to cause soil liquefaction within Salt Lake City. 

But some of these figures had recently been updated after old models had placed the chance far lower:

 "This is a big deal. We've just increased our chances of having a major earthquake by quite a bit. We used to talk about a 15 percent chance in the next 50 years, now it's more than double. That's disconcerting," he said. "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." (2016)

"We are still at risk of a magnitude 7-7.5 earthquake (the “Big One”) occurring somewhere along the Wasatch fault. The risk is similar to what it was before the Magna sequence." (2020 Magna Sequence FAQ)

"Other faults in the region [aside from the Wasatch fault] increase the risk of a large earthquake by 25 percentage points." (2016)

“Experts estimate that last big earthquake hit Salt Lake City 1400 years ago. Geological surveys show that a magnitude 6-7 quake hits the Wasatch Fault, and the subsequent Salt Lake Valley, every 1300-1500 years. That puts the chances of having an earthquake of magnitude 7 or greater in the next 50 years at 43%. And that probability rises to 57% when the richter scale drops to 6. To put this in context, this is higher than the chance of getting cancer (38%) and slightly lower than having heart disease (68%), two of our nation’s biggest killers.” (What every Salt Lake homeowner should know…)

Wasatch Front region quake totals: (Earthquake Forecast for…)

  • “6.0 or greater” over next 50 years: 57%
  • “6.75 or greater” over next 50 years: 43%

"Two faults bounding Utah's biggest city may combine to produce especially powerful earthquakes, geologists will report in Salt Lake City today (April 17) at the annual meeting of the Seismological Society of America. … While dating techniques can’t confirm that the earthquakes were synchronous, instead of within a few days, month or years, modeling suggests they strike at the same time, said Christopher DuRoss, study co-author and a geologist at the Utah Geological Survey." (2013) 

Example of Similar Historical Case 

  • The Great Hanshin earthquake … on January 17, 1995 … measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale.
  • Up to 6,434 people lost their lives
  • Among major cities, Kobe, with its population of 1.5 million, was the closest to the epicenter … Japan's worst earthquake in the 20th century after the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923, which claimed more than 105,000 lives
  • Damage was widespread and severe. Structures irreparably damaged by the quake included nearly 400,000 buildings, numerous elevated road and rail bridges
  • The quake triggered approximately 300 fires
  • Residents feared returning home because of aftershocks that lasted several days (74 of which were strong enough to be felt)
  • The majority of deaths (over 4,000) occurred in cities and suburbs in Hyōgo Prefecture. A total of 68 children under the age of 18 were orphaned, while 332 children lost one parent.
  • One in five of the buildings in the worst-hit areas were completely destroyed or rendered uninhabitable. About 22% of the offices in Kobe's central business district were rendered unusable, and over half of the houses in that area were deemed unfit for occupancy. High rise buildings that were built after the 1981 building code suffered little. Those that were not constructed to these standards suffered serious structural damage. Most of the older traditional houses had heavy tiled roofs which weighed around two tons, intended to resist the frequent typhoons plaguing Kobe, but they were only supported by a light wooden frame. When the wood supports gave way, the roof crushed the unreinforced walls and floors in a pancake collapse. 
  • The damage to highways and subways was the most graphic image of the earthquake … Most people in Japan believed those structures to be relatively safe from earthquake damage because of the steel-reinforced concrete design … The steel-reinforcement specifications in the 1960s regulations had already been discovered to be inadequate and revised several times, the latest revision being in 1981, which proved effective but only applied to new structures.
  • Wooden supports collapsed inside supposedly solid concrete pilings under the tracks of the Shinkansen high-speed rail line, causing the entire line to shut down
  • Artificial islands … suffered severe subsidence due to liquefaction. Water breaking through the surface and flooding those islands was initially believed to have seeped in from the sea, but in fact rose from the liquefied remains of once-solid soils used to construct the islands.
  • "The sheer size of the earthquake caused a major decline in Japanese stock markets"
  • This financial damage was the immediate cause for the collapse of Barings Bank due to the actions of Nick Leeson, who had speculated vast amounts of money on Japanese and Singaporean derivatives. Discussions of Japan's "Lost Decade" tend towards purely economic analysis, and neglect the impact of the earthquake on the Japanese economy which at the time was already suffering from recession
  • The fact that volunteers from all over Japan converged on Kobe to help victims of the quake was an important event in the history of volunteerism in Japan. The year 1995 is often regarded as a turning point in the emergence of volunteerism as a major form of civic engagement.
  • The earthquake proved to be a major wake-up call for Japanese disaster prevention authorities.
  • Local hospitals struggled to keep up with demand for medical treatment, largely due to collapsed or obstructed "lifelines" (roads) that kept supplies and personnel from reaching the affected areas. People were forced to wait in corridors due to the overcrowding and lack of space. Some people had to be operated on in waiting rooms and corridors. 

Speculation and Conclusions

Not having personally kept up to date on the latest geology publications, I don't know if there are any methods to directly measure or monitor actual stresses within the fault systems - but it seems like something we do not have the capability to do yet. So most of our predictive power for when the next quake will happen seems to be based on frequency and might get fine-tuned with specific geographic knowledge, rather than what shifts and stresses are really present in the structures below the surface and which are arriving from various directions.

Extensive structural and seismic profiling studies of the faults in the vicinity have been performed, some of which are so dense as to be somewhat over my head. But it's said that the Wasatch Fault is perhaps the best and most closely studied fault within the USA, and so it seems reasonable to conclude based on that work that an extremely powerful earthquake, along with the damage predicted, will definitely happen rather than being a matter of chance or something to be left to a future more technologically advanced Salt Lake City to cope with, and that it presents a real and major risk to the livelihoods and survival of Salt Lake City residents.

Given resource shortage (including food) as well as general disorder and confusion, I would also expect a chance of looting and violence. First responder access would be significantly delayed, so numerous families may face safety risks, and it seems a certainty that phone, cellular, and internet systems would experience a lengthy outage.

[Ivan Wong] was especially critical of the safety of Utah's schools. According to a 2011 seismic survey, 60 percent of Utah's schools require some form of seismic retrofitting, and around 85 are estimated to have a near-100 percent chance of collapsing during an earthquake.

"Children have a right to be safe in schools, and right now I consider many of the schools in Utah to be unsafe," Wong said. "I understand that the Legislature has competing priorities, but we can't ignore this any more." (Utah…ripe for devastation)

"Our kids are in school for six to eight hours a day, and a lot of them are in buildings that are unsafe," said [Rep. Larry] Wiley [D-West Valley City], a former building inspector. "School buildings [also] are a primary location during a disaster. If the schools aren't safe, where do you go?" (2012)


Suggestions

Quake Survival Tips

We know large and damaging earthquakes are certain to occur in the future… Few households have disaster plans… Few households have disaster supply kits: You will likely be on your own without vital services in the hours and days following an earthquake. Are you prepared with water, food, first aid supplies, and medications? (Handbook for Earthquakes in Utah)

Here are a few tips I've heard to improve quake survival risk, some of which may lack source citations and might even be wrong. I would suggest checking for yourself, especially as there is disagreement even about the Triangle of Life concept.

  1. Avoid using stairwells during earthquakes and potentially after them as well - "The average stairway is a deathtrap in an earthquake if the building collapses on top of you. Don't be on the stairs, or under them, in a quake." (2014) "Do not attempt to use the stairs or an elevator or run out of the building." (U of U - Earthquake FAQ - Safest place)
  2. Do not attempt to hide under a door frame. They're known to collapse rather than being stronger. Prepare, e.g., a sturdy area in each room which you can get to that will shelter you from falling objects and which has something you can hold onto to prevent yourself from sliding around due to shaking. This is connected to the Triangle of Life concept where you want to place yourself next to, but not necessarily under, sturdy objects that will be able to protect you from falling debris. It might be possible to put a lighter-weight cover next to a sturdy object. The 'pancake collapse' mode isn't thought to normally be likely but could be possible in your specific SLC dwelling. Consider wearing a whistle (e.g. as a necklace) to signal rescuers.
  3. Some of the highest risk is said to be from falling objects. When you shelter from the quake, crouch down, protecting vital organs in fetal position, and protect your neck and head with your arm if possible.
  4. When a quake happens, "drop to the ground, before it drops you". The fetal position concept may be incorrect if the risk of being thrown is too great.
  5. Do not run outside if you are inside. If you are outside, get away from all possible falling objects, into a field if possible.
  6. Inside: Stay away from windows. Stay away from appliances that can tip over such as washing machines, refrigerators, etc. 
  7. Stay away from exterior walls. 
  8. Prep a significant amount of drinking water and emergency (dry/packaged) food supplies. Place some of this in your quake survival area because there's a strong chance that you could be trapped under objects and awaiting rescue.
  9. Prep a survival go-bag (i.e. an earthquake kit) that is specifically tailored to the season. Wintertime in Utah gets very cold when the sun goes down, and I would guess that exiting on foot through the mountains might not be the most useful option, even in the idealized case that you make it, but if you do have to chance it due to risks within the city, it could get very cold. Consider placing some of your emergency water with your go-bag. Look into bringing a flashlight, extra batteries, a medkit, and a multitool, two mylar space blankets, tea candles (for heating a space within your space blanket), waterproof (storm) matches, and gloves to keep your hands warm. Space blankets are considered to be insufficient for warmth and can easily tear, so a wool layer or blanket is also recommended. Ideally bring a mummy sleeping bag, but they are bulky and may impede flight.
  10. Make a plan with your family, including how you will reach them. Keep cash on hand. Expect cell and power services to go down.
  11. Stock your home and potentially your go-bag with fire suppression supplies. Fire suppression blankets have recently been advertised as effective, non-damaging, and able to be easily carried and stocked.
If you are driving, move your car as far out of the normal traffic pattern as possible and stop if it is safe. Stay away from structures or objects that could fall on you, such as bridges, overpasses, light posts, power lines, or trees. Stay inside your car. 
If you are in the mountains, or near unstable slopes, be alert for falling rocks, trees, or landslides that could be loosened by the earthquake. Living on Shaky Ground - What do I do? 

Social and Governmental Actions

  1. Avoid living in buildings with "soft stories", which are more likely to collapse in a powerful quake. (2020, wiki)
  2. Avoid multi-story buildings, especially ones which are older or which incorporate masonry or unreinforced concrete.
  3. Completely avoid living in URMs if possible (How to recognize a URM)
  4. "Evaluate your building." "Act now to protect yourself and your family." "We’re not going to lie—retrofitting or replacing URMs can be expensive, but it is what needs to be done to save lives." (What Should I Do?)
  5. Browse the Fix the Bricks program, and locate your house on the Fix the Bricks GIS map.
  6. Guide to seismic retrofitting URMs
  7. Support the usage of wood in construction and retrofitting of buildings. 
    1. US engineers to develop tall wooden towers that can survive earthquakes
    2. A wooden house can withstand an earthquake up to magnitude 8.5
    3. "… severe and appalling as this great convulsion of the earth unquestionably was, it is a settled conviction with all here that not a person would have been killed or hurt had their houses all been made of wood." (Oregon State University - Is your home ready for an earthquake?)
    4. "Wood is a proven choice for seismic-resistive construction" (Designing for Earthquakes)
    5. Mid-rise wood-frame buildings can be built to withstand major quakes (2009)
  8. Look into earthquake insurance
  9. Consider organizing community funding for urgent building retrofitting efforts and quake response planning.

The event will not only be devastating from a safety standpoint but residents and local organizations are likely to see significant financial losses.

"FEMA will also not cover damage on any public infrastructure that is not already insured, he added, and is only available on a very limited basis for private damage." (2020)

Meanwhile, it's clear that the risk of serious injury or death through such a quake scenario is at least comparable to the risk of mortality by nCoV-19/COVID and should therefore be taken at least as seriously in terms of public health and safety awareness and response by anyone who plans to live here. Earthquakes currently cannot be predicted, and unlike the risk of e.g. an infection or car crash, a 'Big One' scenario is not only apparently a certainty but will effectively directly significantly affect everyone, not just those who die.

Consider supporting educational signage for travelers coming into Salt Lake City area by airplane indicating the reality of the earthquake risk and how they should respond to it.

Population growth in Salt Lake is skyrocketing for various reasons, and will continue to grow massively in the next decade. Multiple factors are driving relocation to the area, but it's clear that extremely few people are aware of the reality that it is only a matter of time before a huge catastrophe occurs, and the local government is not necessarily incentivized to widely inform incoming visitors and businesses of the reality of the travel risk.

Consider contacting your local representatives and inquiring about their level of awareness of the risks as well as their current mitigation efforts.

Hopeful Things About Salt Lake

  1. The Salt Lake City area is full of very bright, responsible individuals. Crime is relatively low. Crisis response efforts are usually efficient and the community is known to get involved with cleanups such as during the recent massive windstorm.
  2. Many SLC residents place an emphasis on survival and prepping.
  3. Many locals are educated to keep 3-12 months of food and survival supplies on hand.
  4. Utah and Salt Lake City are relatively tech-forward, are interested in supporting effective industry and commerce, and would probably show strong support for technological and entrepreneurial/business or philanthropic solutions to these problems. It's likely the city would be quick to adopt new and effective technological solutions to earthquake-related problems.
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