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Hawa Yarow

GEOG 1700

Professor Podratz

Disaster Preparedness Plan

Utahs Potential Tsunami

Utah is known as a desert state with its only defining body of water being called The

Great Salt Lake, due to its salinity. Throughout my childhood I remember going to school and

being required to practice earthquake drills during classes. This went on from elementary, to

middle school, to high school, and even here at Salt Lake Community College. So least to say

Ive spent my whole life knowing to hide under a desk in the event of an earthquake. What I

wanted to know though was if the Great Salt Lake is this huge body of water, and Utah being

overdue for an earthquake, then isnt there a possibility of a tsunami happening in Utah? IF so

then what can we Utahans do to prepare for a disaster like this? From what we have learned in

class tsunamis can be generated from a displacement in water, huge impact hitting the water, and

material being deposited into the water. For this plan, I will be focusing on tsunamis being

generated by a displacement in the water.

The Great Salt Lake is this huge body of water located in Utah. Water levels in the lake

have fluctuated. In 1962 the elevation of the lake was 4,192 ft above sea level with a surface area

of 969 sq miles, and in the early 1980s the Great Salt Lake reached an elevation of 4,212 ft

above sea level with a surface area of 2,300 sq miles (Great Salt Lake). In Joe Baumans work

titled, Utah scientific: Lake could generate tsunami — may have occurred before, he

states that in 1909 an earthquake generated a tsunami that caused the Great Salt Lake to have 12
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foot waves (Bauman). This shows that the Great Salt Lake had a tsunami in the past but could it

happen again. In Matt Canhams piece Salt Lake City prison sites could get hit by tsunami-like

wave he quotes on how University of Utah seismology professor James Pechmann says there is

a possibility of Utah experiencing a tsunami. Pechmanns main concern was for a prison possibly

construction near the lake as it could be faced with the natural disaster of a tsunami from the lake

(Canham). Mathew Francis states that the East Great Salt Lake fault and the Carrington fault

both have potential tsunami effects in his piece name TSUNAMI AND SEICHE RISK

FRAMEWORK FOR THE GREAT SALT LAKE (Francis).

Below is a picture from Mathew Francis piece showing the surface geology of the Greater Salt

Lake vicinity.
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Francis, Mathew, Harry Yeh, David Dinter, Hong Thio, and Susan Olig. Figure 1. Surface

Geology of the Greater Salt Lake Vicinity (UGS, 2000). Digital image. TSUNAMI AND

SEICHE RISK FRAMEWORK FOR THE GREAT SALT LAKE. N.p., n.d. Web.

<https://www.academia.edu/27954474/TSUNAMI_AND_SEICHE_RISK_FRAMEWOR

K_FOR_THE_GREAT_SALT_LAKE?auto=download>.

The area within the tsunami zones of these faults are where this preparedness plan comes

in. Significant damage can be done to these areas in terms of high salt deposits from the lake,

water damage to architecture, and possibly even death. Below are the steps Ive laid out to

prepare for a disaster like this in Utah.

Create an Evacuation Route

According to tsunami plan on the website cwarn.org, people should migrate to areas that

are 100 feet above sea level or two miles inland and, since roads may be blocked from the

tsunami, finding a way on foot as well will prove helpful (cwarn).

Create a Disaster Kit

Disaster kits are very beneficial during a disaster. Kits can include things such as first

aide materials, foods, flashlight, knives, etc. Having a kit can greatly increase your chances of

survival should the situation get worse. Including an electronic device that can listen to

emergency broadcast will also prove helpful. You also need to make sure that you are able to

carry the kit because there is a chance that you will need to walk during evacuation.

Discuss Possible Disasters with Insurance


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Protecting your possessions is something people tend to forget in the wake of a disaster. I

dont think anyone would focus on their material possessions what with a tsunami coming at

them. Luckily this is what insurance is for and why you should discuss about the protection you

can get from them during a disaster.

Go over plan with Family

You wont always be around your loved ones every time of the day so planning and

creating a disaster plan will help in reuniting families during or after a disaster faster, and quite

possibly decrease any casualties. So, go over your disaster plan with family to better prepare

everyone for a disaster.

A tsunami in Utah is an unusual thing but not an impossible thing. Becoming aware of

this and making a plan to prepare for this are some step you can take to keeping you and your

family safe.

References
Bauman, Joe. Utah scientific: Lake could generate tsunami &#151; may have
occurred before. 3 1 2005.
<http://www.deseretnews.com/article/600102118/Lake-could-generate-
tsunami--may-have-occurred-before.html>.
Canham, Matt. Salt Lake City prison sites could get hit by tsunami-like wave. 17 12
2014. <http://www.sltrib.com/news/1961772-155/salt-lake-city-prison-sites-
could>.
cwarn. n.d. <http://cwarn.org/tsunami/be-prepared>.
Francis, Mathew. TSUNAMI AND SEICHE RISK FRAMEWORK FOR THE GREAT SALT
LAKE. n.d. 4 5 2017. <http://www.easybib.com/cite/eval?url=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.academia.edu
%2F27954474%2FTSUNAMI_AND_SEICHE_RISK_FRAMEWORK_FOR_THE_GREA
T_SALT_LAKE%3Fauto%3Ddownload>.
Great Salt Lake. n.d. 4 5 2017.
<http://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/the_land/greatsaltlake.html>.
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