Salt Lake Temple Damaged After Utah Is Rocked by Biggest Earthquake in Nearly Three Decades

Utah’s Salt Lake Temple suffered some minor damage after the state was struck by its largest earthquake since 1992 early Wednesday morning.Most notably, the gilded Angel Moroni, which sits atop the temple, lost its trumpet. “The Salt Lake Temple, which is undergoing a seismic upgrade, sustained some minor damage during Wednesday morning’s earthquake,” Daniel Woodruff, a spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, told local newspaper Deseret News. “The trumpet on the Angel Moroni statue fell off, and there is minor displacement of some of the temple’s smaller spire stones. No workers were injured.”The 5.7-magnitude quake hit just outside Salt Lake City shortly after 7 a.m. local time, according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor was immediately followed by more than a dozen smaller aftershocks.It caused damage to some properties and displaced residents in the municipality of Magna, which declared a state of emergency. The Salt Lake City International Airport was shut for several hours.The U.S. Geological Survey reported more than two dozen aftershocks ranging from 2.5 to 4.6 magnitude throughout the day, and Utah Emergency Management urged residents to remove items from shelves that could fall and cause injuries, and to strap furniture to walls.Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall tweeted, “I know the last thing we need right now is an earthquake, but here we are, and it sounds like aftershocks are likely. The city is assessing the situation now and I’ll circle back with an update when I have it. Be safe.”Utah Gov. Gary Herbert urged people to remain indoors while the extent of the damage is assessed and added, “We had a 5.7 earthquake out of Magna this morning—felt across much of the state. Follow proper safety measures in the event of any additional aftershocks or quakes.”Deseret News reported that residents across Salt Lake County felt their homes shake violently.Azur Timmerman, from West Valley City near the estimated epicenter of the earthquake, told the newspaper, “The first one was insane... The shaking didn’t stop for maybe 45 seconds... We thought, ‘Is this an earthquake and is the world ending?’... Things were falling off the walls... Our family photos and porcelain statues on shelves all got knocked off the walls and broke on the tile floor.”There were also reports of mass power outages across the city, and trains stopped until power was restored and authorities inspected lines for damage.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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