Local Antique Store Faces $200,000 In Damage Following Earthquake

SALT LAKE CITY — A local antique store owner said he doesn’t know to recover after a 5.7-magnitude earthquake rattled the Wasatch Front, causing nearly $200,000 in damage to his business.

The earthquake hit around 7:09 a.m. Wednesday. It was only the beginning of an extremely stressful day for Scott Evans, owner of Euro Treasures located at 470 West 600 South in Salt Lake City.

“It shakes the fear into you, that’s for sure,” said Evans.

In this street’s long history, today felt like the end.

“Looks like they lost six or seven feet… and it came right down on the sidewalk,” said Evans as he stood across the street from one building that sustained significant exterior damage. “There would have been a few deaths for sure.”

He said his world came crashing down when the ground started shaking.

“I mean, the bricks were three-feet-high on the ground this morning,” said Evans.

The damage inside Evans’ store was extensive.

“What did you expect?” said Evans. “These other areas in the back here I haven’t gone down yet.”

The quake left as much as $200,000 of loss.

“So this baby’s toast. That one’s a little bit smashed up,” said Evans.

Broken antiques were everywhere. Evans said none of this could have come at a worse time.

“The stock market’s collapsing, the economy’s shutting down… (you have to) stay in your house,” he said. “Tough sledding.” 

Evans had just begun searching for survivors.

“Look at that! Not a scratch!” he said. 

He thought he had hit rock bottom, but things got rockier.

“There’s another little rumble tumble… (hard shaking)… Not good, not good! (More shaking) Not good, not gooood, not good! Ohhh Lord help us,” cried Evans. “This is probably not the best place to be standing.”

It was definitely not the end.

“Not good, not good… (Pauses and looks around),” said Evans. “Well that’s only a 4.5 or a 4.3.”

The aftershock was a magnitude 4.6, but Evans couldn’t be a tenth more rattled.

“I’m not going to go to the doctor to get a stress test because I just had another one,” he said.

This week has almost been enough to lose hope.

“I’m praying for you,” said a woman on the phone to Evans.

“Well, we need it!” said Evans. “A lot of precious things we have down here, and it’s kind of heartbreaking.” 

In the immediate aftermath of a major earthquake, on top of the coronavirus, it was hard not to tremble.

“Is it the end of days? No. But for a small business like us, it’s getting close, you know…” said Evans. “It’s going to have a rippling effect on all of us.”

He said earthquake insurance is just too expensive for his type of business. He’s hurting, as are a lot of other business owners with the earthquake and coronavirus. He said he hopes the community will step up.