Another Earthquake In Bluffdale Has Nearby Residents Rattled

BLUFFDALE, Utah – Belle is still figuring out what’s important and what’s not.

Even though she still has a long way to go, she figured out one thing early Saturday morning; something just wasn’t right.

“The dogs were barking. The dogs were alarmed,” said Marisa Johnson, who is Belle’s owner and lives in Eagle Mountain.

Belle is still a puppy, but knew enough that loud bang and underground rumble wasn’t normal.

Once again, an earthquake rattled thousands of homes in the area.

It was the 106^th earthquake in just the past couple of weeks.

This latest one had a 3.1 magnitude, and although about 90 of those 106 quakes were only small aftershocks, it still has a lot of residents feeling slightly concerned.

“It’s super unsettling because you don’t know if this is a foreshadow of a great catastrophe to come or if it’s the earth settling a little bit,” said Johnson.

Ashley Sylvia and her husband are wondering the same thing.

That earthquake was centered pretty much right where they live in Bluffdale.

The rumbling woke them up in the middle of the night.

“We both reached out and grabbed each other like, oh, here it is again because it was the second time it had woken us up,” said Sylvia.

This time, she remembered she had a home security camera rolling.

So, she checked it, and couldn’t believe the sound of when the earthquake hit.

“It was loud. Not much movement but it was loud,” she said. “It was more the sound that was like, oh man. I can’t imagine how loud a bigger one would be.”

It’s that big one many have been saying to prepare for.

“We’ve been hearing about it for years,” said Steve Spencer, who lives in Riverton.

Spencer and his wife also woke up when the earthquake hit.

“It was loud. You knew right away it was an earthquake. The other ones were a rolling sound, but this one was a loud rumble,” said Spencer.

With all the earthquakes that have been happening in the Bluffdale area the past couple of weeks, many people are wondering if it’s a sign of things to come.

“I would say one of the most common questions we’re getting is what do all of these earthquakes mean? And unfortunately the answer is, we don’t know what they mean,” said Joe Dougherty, who is the spokesman for Utah’s Division of Emergency Management. “Our friends at the University of Utah seismograph station have told us is that the increased activity only means that there is a slightly better chance that another earthquake is coming.”

If nothing else, Dougherty feels these quakes are a reminder it’s a good time to prepare.

“For a lot of people, they felt their first earthquakes this very month. And so, that is a big wakeup call for a lot of people,” said Dougherty.

Preparing, and having a plan, is what the Sylvia family is going to do now.

“If anything, it’s just helped bring awareness to our family and to our community,” said Sylvia.

Same for the Johnson’s.

And their puppy.

“It is still alarming because you don’t know what this means,” said Johnson.

Dougherty says some tips to prepare include strapping down your hot water heater, so it doesn’t fall and you can keep that water in the event of a big one.

Also, it’s a good idea to have flashlights, extra food, and maybe even keep slippers by your bed.

That way you’re not walking in shattered glass or splintered wood if a large earthquake causes damage.

To put things in perspective, Dougherty says Soda Springs, Idaho, had a swarm of hundreds of earthquakes a couple of years ago and nothing big has happened there since.

Many people are hoping Bluffdale follows that pattern.

For tips, you can go to https://www.utah.gov/beready/earthquakePreparedness.html