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Ed Yeates ReportingThough it was a small earthquake, more than two hundred people in the Magna area felt last night's 2.5 shaker.
This time, Utah seismologists had new instruments in place they've never had there before.
Between Kennecott and ATK propulsion testing, Magna residents were not quite sure last night what really had happened.
Denise Dennis: "We had just climbed in bed and the whole house started shaking."
Kim Hurst: "My house started rumbling and my husband came in and said we had an earthquake. I said, 'No we didn't.'"
Though it didn't do any damage, last night's little tremor was the talk of the town today.
Jennifer Jones: "We almost thought there was an explosion over at ATK, somewhere like that. It just shook the windows."
Elizabeth Redmond: "It started at the front of my house and just sort of worked its way to the back, just kind of a rumbling."
Sharon Miller: "My son came into the room and he was laughing. My daughter came running upstairs saying was it an earthquake."
Since 1981, the Magna area has had a lot of small earthquakes. This one last night was no exception, except this time the Utah seismograph stations had newly installed strong ground motion stations all over the place.
This additional data allowed seismologists to come up with an even more accurate and precise location and depth - about five miles down - from where this quake came from.
Dr. Christine Pankow/ Assistant Director, Utah Seismograph Stations: "It was totally unexpected. We didn't expect that these small earthquakes are going to be recorded so well on instruments that are set up to record the big one."
And that big one is still waiting! These small quakes are but a reflection of how things are always in motion, stretching from the flank of our eastern mountains westward at the rate of about a quarter to a half inch per year.
As BYU geologist Ron Harris demonstrates, it's like a spring attached to a brick - ever stretching and stretching.
Eventually the big brick, or our Wasatch Fault, will move and break apart. And when it does, these new strong ground motion detectors in Magna and elsewhere will give seismologists new information they've never had before - just like they did last night.
