Editor’s note: This article is part of a series reviewing the history of Utah and the United States in the History section of KSL.com.
SALT LAKE CITY – When a magnitude 5.7 earthquake shook the Wasatch Front last year, it literally touched the heart of Utah history.
The quake caused so much damage that the 110-year-old Rio Grande Reservoir, home to the Utah State History Division and the state’s historical archives, was closed because the building was considered insecure. Even a year later, the building remains closed mainly due to damage.
Nearly 150 historic buildings in Salt Lake County were damaged by the quake. Of those, only one was serious enough to be demolished, said Chris Merritt, a historic Utah preservation officer. But the quake was an important reminder that there are many historic structures and houses at high risk for the day the next big quake will hit the area.
That’s why preservation and geology experts met Thursday evening to conduct a virtual chat that collected the damage caused a year ago and discussed ways to ensure the next big earthquake isn’t so destructive, or at least not. be the worst case scenario.
“We need to keep having a conversation … We need to have that conversation more than once a year,” Merritt said as he sat in his Rio Grande office. The wall behind it still has large cracks visible from the earthquake.
“We need to have a concerted, unified and strategic way to save as many of these buildings as we can to help private companies and homeowners find ways to preserve these pieces from our past.”
Damage recorded a year ago
Following the March 18, 2020 earthquake, the Utah State Office of Historic Preservation conducted inspections of historic buildings in likely major affected areas. This included areas like Magna, near the epicenter of the earthquake, as well as the more historic buildings of Salt Lake City, such as the Hardware District and the Liberty Wells neighborhood.
The agency’s preliminary report compiled within two weeks after the earthquake identified about 145 buildings designated or eligible for historic status that were damaged by the earthquake. The list included some well-known structures in the county such as Madeleine Cathedral, Crane Building, Fisher Manson, Rio Grande Depot, Salt Lake City-County Building, Salt Lake Temple and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Paul.
The most frequent damage they encountered was in the chimneys. The damage to an apartment complex they found in downtown Salt Lake City was so severe that they alerted outside authorities to the security risk. Other common damage includes cracks in brick or adobe structures. Some of the most affected buildings collapsed on the roof.
Only a recognized historical structure was not recoverable. Merritt said the damage to the Septimus Sears house from 1902 to the S. 400 east in Liberty Wells was so great that the owner decided to demolish it. The house was built in 1896 and was considered one of the oldest houses in the neighborhood.
“This is the story I don’t want to happen,” he added. “I don’t want to lose any more historical structure.”
Continuous risks for historic buildings
As large as the Magna earthquake was, a larger earthquake is projected that will cause much worse damage.
For example, a document produced by the Envision Utah organization estimated that some 60,000 buildings in the four counties on the Wasatch Front would be destroyed in earthquakes of 7.0 or more; approximately 95% of these structures were located in Salt Lake County. Another nearly 36,000 structures would suffer significant damage.
One of the main reasons why so many structures are at risk is that the great earthquake danger was not really known until the mid-1970s, Envision Utah noted. Many earlier buildings were not built with earthquakes in mind. Salt Lake County is more likely to suffer widespread damage, as it is where most homes and businesses are located.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency released a new report on the matter on the one-year anniversary of the earthquake. Thursday’s report indicated that there were about 140,000 structures in the state that were adapting to the risk of significant damage from an earthquake because the buildings “do not incorporate the reinforcing steel required by modern building codes.”
“They comprise a wide variety of buildings, from single-family homes, to businesses, to schools and houses of worship,” the agency wrote in a statement. “These structures can more easily succumb to movement and shocks during an earthquake, which poses a threat to construction occupants as well as to individuals outside, very close to the structures.”
A damaging earthquake in the Wasatch Front fault zone would significantly affect the state, region and country for years to come.
–Steve Bowman, geologist at the Utah Geological Survey
This adds to critical infrastructure such as water, gas and oil pipeline and broadband connection in the region. Projections call for billions of dollars in damage costs and even more economic losses.
“A damaging earthquake in the Wasatch Front fault zone would significantly affect the state, region and country for years to come,” said Steve Bowman, a geologist at the Utah Geological Survey.
While speakers at the event on Thursday acknowledged the ongoing risk of a major enviable earthquake, they also noted that there are ways to mitigate the impacts of a disastrous earthquake.
“One thing people should really recognize is that we can prepare for and deal with these dangers,” Bowman added. “We shouldn’t be afraid of them. We just have to recognize them, get together and deal with them.”
Find solutions to save historic buildings, including homes
Fix the Bricks in Salt Lake City, which is in coordination with FEMA, is one of the best examples of recent programs aimed at equipping and rehabilitating old homes at risk of severe earthquake damage. Experts found that the homes that were the subject of the program worked well even after last year’s earthquake.
But it’s also a relatively small local program with a growing waiting list. Greg Schultz, Magna City Administrator, said this is a program that should be extended not only to other at-risk communities, but to more people in general, to help rehabilitate more homes faster and reduce any impact caused by the next major earthquake. .
“We don’t think FEMA knows how big Fix the Bricks should be in this state,” he argued. “I can tell you on Magna’s main street, I can’t point to a building that doesn’t need a little reinforcement of its fascia to prevent it from being damaged or destroyed in the next earthquake. The other challenge we have here is a substantial amount of unreinforced masonry residences “.
Schultz said it’s not just federal money, but the state legislature could provide additional money. It’s also something that public-private partnerships could help fund.
“We have to try to pull all the levers we can to make sure we try to keep things rolling,” he added.
Merritt agreed that it was a program that needed to be expanded, as there are so many buildings at risk, especially in Salt Lake County.
One of the most important issues outside of Fix the Bricks ’long waiting list is that many residents are unaware that their home is at risk of significant damage, Schultz said. In addition, many residents may not be able to afford equipment costs.
There have been recent efforts to achieve earthquake safety. HB 366, sponsored by Representative Clare Collard, D-Magna, was introduced in the legislative session earlier this year. Its goal was to require the Utah Seismic Safety Commission to “develop guides and videos for homeowners related to the risks associated with earthquakes from unreinforced masonry homes.”
More specifically, it would educate homeowners to know if they have “unreinforced masonry housing” and expand information on how to renovate their home and reduce the risks of serious damage or destruction as a result of a major earthquake. The bill failed in the House vote, 26-41, earlier this year.
One argument argued against the bill before the Feb. 24 vote was that there were already online videos on how to handle unreinforced masonry housing. Collard then replied that if residents did not know the problem, they would not look for the videos.
We have to do something really good, prior to mitigation. … The next earthquake could be tomorrow and we can’t stand idly by and postpone it.
–Chris Merritt, Utah Historic Preservation Officer
Collard joined the virtual meeting Thursday to talk about the failed effort. He said many of his colleagues were aware and concerned about the issue “but did not see the urgency in it”. He said residents could only move away, however, given the lack of housing and housing access issues in the state, many cannot. And if a resident could move, he would just pass the baton to another person who would be at risk for a major earthquake.
“Homes will always be occupied, regardless, and usually these residents don’t have the funding to renovate their homes, so we know we have to work on them,” said Collard, who noted that he would raise the issue again later this year. year with a bill that could expand Fix the Bricks statewide.
The FEMA report released Thursday offered five recommendations, including new adaptation programs and code amendments.
Earthquake insurance is another very promoted thing. As long as he was not at the meeting, the Salt Lake County Emergency Management Office tweeted Thursday that it is important for people to look for quotes on earthquake insurance.
“Most people get a terrible date the first time and give up,” the agency reported. “Look for earthquake insurance.”
While the issue may not seem like an urgent issue at the moment, experts were quick to point out Thursday that no one knows when it will attack “the big one.” All that is known is that historical patterns suggest that it will probably happen at any time over the next few decades. The Magna earthquake recalled the unpredictability of the situation.
But this also leaves an unknown period of time to complete the adaptation to lessen the impact of a major earthquake. That’s why experts argued that it’s important to start working on as many buildings as possible instead of waiting.
“We have to do something really good, prior to mitigation,” Merritt said. “The next earthquake could be tomorrow and we can’t stand idly by and postpone it.”