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By Reed Madsen
SPRING CITY, Sanpete County--The weekend earthquake was still the big topic of conversation Monday in Spring City, Ephraim and other communities in central Sanpete County.
People continued to examine walls, foundations and ceilings of homes for possible damage, but apparently very little occurred. Many residents admitted they were startled, however, and some said they were "scared."
The earth heaved and shook for about three minutes Saturday night at around 10 p.m., according to information on the seismograph at the University of Utah.
Geologists theorized that it may have been caused by a movement along an earth fault in the Sanpete area.
Ephraim and Spring City apparently felt the severest shocks, but tremors also were felt as far south as Manti and as far north as Fairview and Moroni.
Two residents in Ephraim reported feeling mild aftershocks at 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. Sunday.
At Ephraim the quake brought theater patrons streaming from the Towne Theater. It disrupted a party, scattered papers from the shelves of a cafe, rattled dishes and set chandeliers to swinging. It also cracked the wall above a fireplace in one residence.
At Spring City and Mt. Pleasant the telephone exchanges were jammed with calls. Manager Louis Kay of the Mt. Pleasant telephone office denied a report that the earthquake cracked the ceiling, however. "The crack was already there," he said.
Dan Daniels, who lives between Mt. Pleasant and Moroni, said dogs began to bark and pheasants crowed during the temblor. "Birds flew from trees and struck windows, apparently trying to fly into the light," he said.
Wes Mogle of Manti said he felt the couch vibrate and thought the furnace had exploded.
Comments of other Manti residents:
N. E. Bradley said "I thought a tree had fallen, but I couldn't find one down."
Miss Joan Boyington was watching television and "it shook the entire house."
LaMont Lyon said he was racking billiard balls in his establishment in Ephraim when they "all began to roll across the table."
[Deseret News; April 17, 1961]
A sharp earthquake jolt, followed immediately by a rolling, waving earth vibration, shook the central Sanpete area Saturday night, apparently centering in the Ephraim and Spring City area. It was also felt in Manti and as far north as Fairview and Fountain Green.
It was almost exactly 10:03 Saturday night when the tremblor was first felt. Dr. H. R. Christensen, head of the geology department at Snow College, said both the shock and the rolling vibration which followed lasted no more than five seconds. Some others, who had lived in earthquake zones, estimated the duration at about four seconds.
An article in the April 17th Deseret News, written by Reed Madsen, staff writer, stated "The earth heaved and shook for about three minutes Saturday night at around 10 p.m. according to information on the seismograph at the University of Utah."
It is pointed out that a seismograph will record shocks much too light to be felt by humans which may account for the wide difference of time in "not more than five seconds" and "about three minutes."
A very large number of people feeling the shock thought their furnaces or water heaters had exploded and made hurried trips to the basements to investigate. Typical of these was Postmaster Clifford H. Sondrup of Ephraim at whose home several friends were enjoying a rook party. Mr. Sondrup was in the process of pouring up some cold drinks when the quake occurred. He ran to the basement, expecting to find an exploded furnace. On coming back up he was informed by Jared Jensen that it was an earthquake. Anxious parents left immediately to check on children, baby sitters, water mains, etc., and the party broke up.
Typical of the stories told by Manti residents was one by Nate Bradley who "thought a tree had fallen," but couldn't find one that was down. Mrs. Don Brown said it shook the soot from their chimney so that it fell into the fireplace, also widened a crack in the ceiling of their home. Others reported their houses shaken with the first impulse being the furnace had exploded.
LaMont Lyon of Manti was at his amusement center in Ephraim racking up billiard balls when they suddenly started rolling in all directions.
L. Cannon and Hazel Anderson will have to have one wall of their bedroom replastered. The quake broke up the plaster so badly that chunks of it are hanging loose.
Downstairs in the same building Allen H. Anderson found bottles, cans and cereal cartons had been shaken down from some of the higher stacks about his I.G.A. store. None of the bottles were broken, he said.
No damage was noted at either Snow College or the Ephraim Junior High and Elementary School, of the higher buildings in Ephraim. But there is a new crack in the east wall of the Post Office (inside), believed to have been caused by the quake. Cracked walls were also reported in various residences, none of them apparently serious.
Bricks were shaken from several chimneys, especially in the northeast part of Ephraim. The most noticeable of these is at the James A. Rasmussen home, last house on the east side of the highway at the north entrance to Ephraim. Quite a section was shaken out of this chimney. Others reporting fallen bricks were at the Joseph Breinholt (former J. Andrew Olsen) home, the Joseph Jorgenson home on the corner south of there (2nd North and 4th East) and the Edward Thomson (former Clarence Peterson) home on the corner of 3rd East and 3rd North.
The chief damage, however, seemed to be to nerves, with many fearing that other shocks would follow. And some Ephraim citizens report they felt two other tremors, one at about 2 a.m. and the other about 6 a.m. Sunday.
Geologists have long pointed out that this is an earthquake area with numerous faults in the mountains and some in the valley. Slipping of any one of these could cause a quake and apparently one of them slipped a bit Saturday night.
Dr. Christensen said as soon as he felt the quake he knew it was of local origin. There was first the sharp shock, followed immediately by the rolling motion. The farther the distance from the quake, the greater the time between the initial jolt and the following earth waves, he said.
[Ephraim Enterprise; April 21, 1961]
MANTI, April 15--Two earth shocks in rapid succession rocked north central Sanpete County Saturday around 10 p.m., cracking plaster in ceilings and knocking glasses from shelves.
Residents of towns from Manti north to Mt. Pleasant, 23 miles away, reported they had felt an "earthquake."
Sheriff Eugene A. Tuttle, Manti, said his own home shook violently about 10:10 p.m. He could offer no explanation for the phenomenon other than earth temblors.
Lights swayed and glasses were toppled from shelves in Spring City, and the ceiling of the Mountain States Telephone Co. building in Mt. Pleasant was cracked.
Ephraim residents said the shock there lasted several seconds, and was of "moderate" intensity.
Nothing was felt in Gunnison to the south or Provo to the north.
Brigham Young University scientists said their seismograph is out or order and could not have recorded any earth movement.
Dr. Kenneth L. Cook, head of the Department of Geophysics, University of Utah, said the seismograph record at the university would be developed Sunday morning.
He theorized that such a quake could have occurred as a movement along an earth fault in the Sanpete area.
Highway Patrol radio dispatchers in Provo received many calls from residents in the area of the quake.
Dr. H. R. Christensen, professor of physics and geology at Snow College in Ephraim, said a fairly sharp shock hit about 10:03 p.m., causing the chandelier in his home to sway violently.
He said there were no after-tremors which usually accompany earthquakes. The shock lasted about four or five seconds, he explained.
Dr. Christensen said his first impression after the house shook was that an explosion had occurred in the area, but he later theorized that it was an earthquake.
Mrs. H. W. Price, Manti, said her home shook violently at 10:10 p.m. with enough force to awaken other members of the family. She made telephone calls to other parts of town and was told the shock had been felt all over the area.
[Salt Lake Tribune; April 16, 1961]
EPHRAIM--A mild after-tremor from two sharp earthquakes which hit north central Sanpete County towns late Saturday shook Ephraim Sunday.
Marshal Hespert Sevy, Ephraim, said the Sunday temblor occurred about 6 a.m. No damage was reported.
Dr. S. T. Algermissen, assistant professor of geophysics at the University of Utah, said the institution's seismograph recorded Saturday's disturbance at 10:03 p.m. and lasted "about three minutes."
Residents of towns from Manti north to Mt. Pleasant, 23 miles away, reported feeling two earth shocks in rapid succession.
Brigham Young University scientists said their seismograph is out of order and did not record the earth shock.
Sheriff Eugene A. Tuttle, Manti, said his own home shook violently shortly after 10 p.m.
No tremors were reported from Gunnison in the south or Fairview to the north.
The only damage reported by late Sunday was cracked plaster in the ceilings and walls of a number of houses and a few broken glasses.
The home of Mrs. H. W. Price, Manti, shook violently Saturday just after 10 p.m. with enough force to awaken the entire family.
[Salt Lake Tribune; April 17, 1961]
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