Editor’s note: This article is part of a series reviewing the history of Utah and the United States for the historical section of KSL.com.
SALT LAKE CITY – When a magnitude 5.7 earthquake shook the Wasatch Front last year, it literally hit the heart of Utah history.
The quake caused so much damage that the 110-year-old Rio Grande Warehouse, home to the Utah State History Division and the state’s historical archives, was closed because the building was considered unsafe. Even a year later, the building remains largely closed due to damage.
Nearly 150 historic buildings in Salt Lake County were damaged by the earthquake. Of those, only one was severe enough to be shot down, said Chris Merritt, a historic Utah conservation officer. But the quake was an important reminder that there are many historic structures and high-risk houses for the day the next major earthquake hit the area.
That’s why conservation and geology experts met Thursday night to have a virtual discussion recapping the damage from a year ago and discussing ways to make sure the next big earthquake isn’t as destructive – or at least isn’t. 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 office in Rio Grande Depot. 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 possible to help private companies and homeowners find ways to keep these really interesting pieces from our past.”
Damage recorded a year ago
Following the March 18, 2020 earthquake, the Utah State Historic Preservation Office conducted reviews of historic buildings in the affected primary areas. This included areas such as Magna, near the epicenter of the earthquake, as well as the more historic locations of buildings in Salt Lake City – such as the Hardware District and the Liberty Wells neighborhood.
The agency’s preliminary report within two weeks of the quake identified nearly 145 buildings that were either designated or eligible for historic status that received damage due to the quake. The list included several well-known structures in the county, such as Madeleine Cathedral, the Crane Building, Fisher Manson, the Rio Grande Warehouse, the Salt Lake City County Building, the Salt Lake Temple, and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.
The most common damage they caused was chimneys. The damage to an apartment complex in downtown Salt Lake City was so severe that it alerted outside authorities to the security risk. Other common damage included cracks in bricks or adobe structures. Some of the hardest-hit buildings also suffered roof collapses.
Only one recognized historical structure could not be recovered. The damage to the 1902 S. 400 East Septimus Sears home in Liberty Wells was so great that the homeowner decided to demolish it, Merritt said. The house was built in 1896 and was considered one of the oldest remaining 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 structures.”
Continuous risks to historic buildings
As large as the Magna earthquake was, a larger earthquake is projected to create much more severe damage.
For example, a document produced by Envision Utah estimated that approximately 60,000 buildings in the four counties of the Wasatch Front would be destroyed in earthquakes of 7.0 or more; about 95% of these structures were located in Salt Lake County. Another close to 36,000 structures would receive considerable damage.
One of the main reasons so many structures are at risk is that the great danger of an earthquake was not known until the mid-1970s, Envision Utah pointed out. Many previous buildings were not built due to earthquakes. Salt Lake County is more prone to widespread damage because it is home to many homes and businesses.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a new report on the issue on the one-year anniversary of the earthquake. The report said on Thursday that there are about 140,000 structures in the state that match the risk of major damage caused by an earthquake because the buildings “do not incorporate the reinforcing steel required by modern building codes.”
“These include a wide variety of buildings, from individual houses, to businesses, to schools and houses of worship,” the agency wrote in a statement. “Such structures can more easily succumb to movement and tremor during an earthquake, posing a threat to both the occupants of the building and individuals outside in the immediate vicinity of the structures.”
A damaged earthquake in the Wasatch Front emergency zone would have a significant impact on the state, region and country for years.
–Steve Bowman, geologist at the Utah Geological Survey
It is located at the top of critical infrastructure, such as water, gas and oil pipelines and the region’s broadband connection. Projections require billions of dollars in damage costs and even more economic losses.
“A damaged earthquake in the Wasatch Front emergency zone would have a significant impact on the state, region and country for years,” said Steve Bowman, a geologist at the Utah Geological Survey.
While speakers at Thursday’s event acknowledged the continuing risk of a major enviable earthquake, they also stressed that there are ways to mitigate the impact of a disastrous earthquake.
“One thing people should recognize is that we can prepare and face these dangers,” Bowman added. “We shouldn’t be afraid of them. We just have to recognize them, get together and take care of them.”
Finding 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 modernizing and rehabilitating older homes at risk of severe damage from earthquakes. Experts found that the homes that were subjected to the program had good results even after last year’s earthquake.
But it is also a relatively small local program with a growing waiting list. Greg Schultz, municipal administrator for Magna, said it is a program that needs to be extended not just to other high-risk communities, but to more people in general, to help rehabilitate more homes faster and reduce any impact. caused by the next big earthquake.
“We don’t think FEMA knows how big Fix Bricks should be in this state,” he argued. “I can tell you on Magna Main Street, I can’t point to a building that doesn’t need a lot of reinforcement for 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, it’s something the state legislature could provide extra money for. It is also something for which public-private partnerships could help provide funding.
“We have to try to pull every possible lever to make sure we try to keep things rolling,” he added.
Merritt agreed that it is a program that needed to be expanded because there are so many buildings at risk, especially in Salt Lake County.
One of the biggest problems standing in the way of the long waiting list for Fix the Bricks is that many residents are unaware that their home is at risk of major damage, Schultz said. In addition, many residents may not be able to afford modernization costs.
Recent earthquake safety efforts have been made. HB 366, sponsored by Rep. Clare Collard, D-Magna, was introduced in the legislative session earlier this year. His goal was to ask the Utah Seismic Safety Commission to “develop guides and videos for homeowners about the earthquake risks of hardened masonry homes.”
More specifically, it would educate homeowners so that they know if they have a “masonry house without reinforcement” and expand information on how to modernize their home and reduce the risk of serious damage or destruction due to an earthquake major. The bill failed in the House vote, 26-41, earlier this year.
One argument against the bill ahead of the February 24 vote was that there were already online videos on how to occupy unreinforced masonry housing. Collard then argued that if residents did not know about the problem, they would not look for the videos.
We have to do something very good before we alleviate it. … The next earthquake could be tomorrow and we can’t sit still and postpone it.
–Chris Merritt, Utah Historic Conservation Officer
Collard joined the virtual meeting on Thursday to discuss the failed effort. She said many of her colleagues were aware and concerned about the issue “but did not see the urgency”. She said residents could move away, but given the lack of housing and housing accessibility issues in the state, many simply cannot. And if a resident could move, he would just pass the baton to another person who would be at risk of a major earthquake.
“Homes will always be occupied, no matter what, and usually these residents don’t have the funds to just modernize their homes, so we know we have to work on that,” Collard said, noting that she will bring the issue back more. later this year with a bill that could extend the Fix the Bricks to the state level.
The FEMA report released on Thursday provided five recommendations, including new upgrade programs and code changes.
Earthquake insurance is another strongly promoted thing. Although he was not at the meeting, The Salt Lake County Emergency Management Office wrote on Twitter on Thursday that it is important for people to look for insurance offers for earthquakes.
“Most people receive a terrible offer the first time and give up,” the agency wrote on Twitter. “Look for earthquake insurance.”
Although the subject may not seem an urgent issue at this time, experts were quick to point out on Thursday that no one knows when the “big one” will hit. All that is known is that historical models suggest that it will probably happen at any time, over the next few decades. The Magna earthquake was a reminder of the unpredictability of the situation.
But this also leaves an unknown time frame for completing the upgrade to lessen the impact of a major earthquake. That’s why experts said it’s more important to work on as many buildings as possible now than to wait.
“We have to do something very good before we mitigate,” Merritt said. “The next earthquake could be tomorrow and we can’t sit still and postpone it.”