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.
The magnitude 4.7 earthquake in Utah struck just 50 miles from several major cities including Salt Lake City
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 Wasatch 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 Wasatch 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.
‘A large quake on the Wasatch fault zone near Salt Lake City could have an enormous impact on the region and result in 2,000 to 2,500 fatalities,’ the 2016 Working Group on Utah Earthquake Probabilities (WGUEP) wrote in their assessment.
The Wasatch Fault runs underneath multiple cities and over one million people in Utah
Thursday’s earthquake did not take place directly along the fault. According to the US Geological Survey, its epicenter was over 50 miles east
The report also estimated that 7,400 to 9,300 life-threatening injuries would occur, 84,000 families could displaced from their homes, and there would likely be disruptions to water, electricity, gas, and sewer lines when the earth split.
Overall, the total damage cost in 2016 was calculated at $33billion.
Since Thursday’s magnitude 4.7 quake, at least six minor aftershocks have been recorded in the area.
The earthquake did not take place directly along this fault line, as its epicenter was approximately 50miles east of the Wasatch.
However, it was still located within the Intermountain Seismic Belt (ISB), a massive zone of earthquake activity stretching from Montana to Arizona.
