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LOGAN — Did you feel a small earthquake in Cache Valley on Thursday? If so, the University of Utah's seismology center wants to hear about it.
A 3.6-magnitude quake was detected in the Bear River Range about 11 miles outside Logan at 10:19 a.m. and was reportedly felt by more than 90 people in Cache Valley, said Katherine Whidden, a research seismologist at the U.
"Basically, people would feel some shaking, but we really wouldn't expect any damage at all from this," Whidden said. "Sometimes people will feel something, but they won't realize until later it was an earthquake. … People will say they thought something hit the side of their house, like the kids were being too rowdy."
Anyone who felt shaking near Logan is asked to fill out a survey on the U.S. Geological Survey's website. That information will be added to a "Did you feel it?" map that allows the public to review earthquake information, while providing seismologists with data revealing how widely and strongly the quake was felt, Whidden said.
Sometimes people will feel something, but they won't realize until later it was an earthquake.
–Katherine Whidden, U of U research seismologist
The largest earthquake on record in Cache Valley was a 5.7 quake that hit just outside Richmond in 1962, about 22 miles away from Thursday's tremor, according the U. seismograph center.
Whidden said the little quake provided an important reminder for Utahns.
"We live in earthquake country and can have a large, damaging quake at any time," she said. "The best thing people can do is to be prepared with a 72-hour kit with food and water, medicine and supplies for your family."
