Talk:2020 Salt Lake City earthquake

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Merge to 2020 Magna earthquake

Technically, the earthquake happened closer to Magna, Utah than Salt Lake City, so this name would be better.

The advantage of the current title is that Salt Lake City has much better recognition for our readers. Mikenorton (talk) 22:01, 18 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

As long as a redirect is in place from the Salt Lake title, there shouldn't be a problem. All of the media reports I've been hearing on the radio and on TV are calling it the Magna earthquake. ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe · Join WP Japan! 23:05, 18 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

They’re calling it the “Magna” earthquake because that’s what USGS listed. I know it’s closer, but it’s in the metropolitan area. Magna is a ghost town compared to the metropolitan area, so it would dumbing down the severity of this earthquake, in my opinion.

The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake is named after an entire region of Japan containing 6 prefectures, despite Sendai being one of the closest cities in proximity. This was because the majority of affected people were in this region. The same should apply here. Although Magna was closest in proximity, the entire SLC metro area was effected. It should be named accordingly. GyozaDumpling (talk) 07:44, 25 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

"Geology" section needs current source

We need a contemperaenous reference that, in fact, this particular earthquake was on the Wasatch Fault. Perhaps an editor could reference the following:

https://www.kuer.org/post/seismologist-explains-science-behind-utahs-57-magnitude-earthquake#stream/0

Spope3 (talk) 21:30, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

The geology doesn't change - that section sets the scene for the following section, which starts by stating "The earthquake's focal mechanism and depth were both consistent with displacement on the Wasatch fault system at depth" with a citation to the ANSS page. Mikenorton (talk) 21:41, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds good, thanks

Spope3 (talk) 03:12, 2 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Moderate Earthquake, not Major

The article describes this as a major earthquake but based on the Richter Magnitude Scale 5.7 is described as "Moderate."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richter_magnitude_scale — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.67.253.220 (talk) 13:48, 2 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

There is only a very indirect relationship between the magnitude of an event and its effects that might cause it to be described as "major". Note that the same table in that article that says moderate, also gives an intensity in the range VI to VII, whereas this earthquake had a maximum intensity of VIII, so more consistent with "strong" in that sense. However, these terms are not used in any hard and fast way by seismologists and if our sources use the word "major" we should follow them. On the other hand if they use "moderate" then so should we.Mikenorton (talk) 15:27, 2 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

West Valley Fault zone

The West Valley fault zone (WVF) has occasionally been added to this article as the fault that caused the earthquake. This is presumably because the epicenter lies close to the surface trace of this zone. However, the current understanding is that the WVF faults are "antithetic" to the main Wasatch Fault, carrying far less displacement and intersecting with the Wasatch Fault at about 6–7 km in depth, as shown in this diagram from the University of Utah Seismograph Stations, well above the level of the recent earthquake. The WVF is thought to move only when there is a large earthquake on the Wasatch Fault. Mikenorton (talk) 11:48, 6 May 2020 (UTC)[reply]