Thousands of Americans received earthquake warnings on Thursday after a 4.7 magnitude struck Utah.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) issued the ShakeAlert after the quick hit just 54 miles outside of Salt Lake City at 7.49am local (9.49am ET).
Residents reported shaking across northern Utah, western Wyoming and southern Idaho.
Several cities, including Logan, Ogden, and Provo, reported weak and light shaking to USGS and there have been no reports of injuries or property damage caused by the quake.
Nearly 1.5million people live in the 125-mile stretch between Logan and Provo, where the earthquake’s effects were most felt.
Keith Koper, the University of Utah’s Seismograph Station’s director, told ABC4 Utah: ‘It is possible that you could feel more shaking later today.’
USGS added that there was a nearly 50percent chance that another quake stronger than magnitude 3.0 could take place in the region over the next day.
Koper noted that Thursday’s event was not considered a ‘big earthquake’ but added that this highly populated part of Utah sits on top of a major fault line linked to significant seismic activity.
A 4.7 magnitude earthquake was detected outside of Salt Lake City on Thursday
The Wasatch Fault runs directly under or very close to several major Utah cities along the Wasatch Front.
These communities include Brigham City, Ogden, Salt Lake City, Provo, and Nephi.
According to officials in Utah, the Wasatch Fault has caused 17 major earthquakes stronger than magnitude 5.5 since record-keeping began in the area in 1847.
Studies by USGS have warned that at least 22 large surface-splitting quakes stronger than magnitude 7.0 have taken place along the Wasatcht over the last 6,000 years, averaging one every 300 years.
The most recent of these major disasters took place approximately three centuries ago near the Nephi segment of the fault line, meaning a new mega earthquake could conceivably be a possibility, based on historical averages.
A 2016 review of the Wasatcht Fault by USGS and other state scientists determined that there was a 43percent chance of an earthquake greater than magnitude 6.7 erupting along the fault over the next 50 years.
The odds were even higher of a quake stronger than magnitude 6.0 impacting Utah, coming in at 57percent.
