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FEMA In Your Community: FEMA Helps Utah Prepare for the Worst on Wasatch

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FEMA Region VIII’s Response Division recently met with their state and local counterparts in Utah to inform them on the status of emergency planning for an earthquake along the Wasatch Fault Line. In four separate meetings with state emergency management officials, county emergency managers and Special Emergency Response Teams (SERT) and public sector stakeholders, FEMA staff informed meeting attendees of the earthquake response plan and received initial input on issues they presented.

The feedback from those stakeholders will be incorporated in further planning by FEMA Region VIII for a potential Wasatch Earthquake. The finalized plan will provide the framework for preparations and a rapid regional response to such an event.

The Wasatch Front region of Utah is an extremely active seismic zone that experiences approximately 700 earthquakes per year. Though many of these temblors are less than 3.0 on the Richter magnitude scale, a 7.0 quake will occur roughly once every 350 years along the central portion of  the Wasatch Fault.

The Wasatch Front is home to Utah’s most populous counties, including Salt Lake, Utah, Weber and Davis. More than 80 percent of Utah’s population is located in areas that are subject to large earthquakes.

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