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KANAB--A fair-sized earthquake shook Kanab Tuesday at 10:45 a.m., and sent frightened residents scurrying from their homes, but apparently it caused only slight damage.
The quake was preceded by a rumbling, roaring noise and many persons first thought a jet had broken the sound barrier. Then the shaking started. Residents said it lasted possibly one minute.
Dishes, mirrors and canned goods rattled and Lowell Ford, inspector of motor vehicles at the Arizona Highway Patrol inspection station just over the line from Kanab, said his steel and sheet metal building vibrated.
Shortly after the tremor he reported receiving calls from as far as Cedar Ridge, which is about 110 miles down U.S. Highway 89 from Kanab.
[Deseret News; July 22, 1959]
Epicenter Near Kanab
KANAB--A strong earth tremor knocked dishes and canned goods to floors, started minor rock slides and swayed automobiles on the streets over a wide area of southern Utah and northern Arizona Tuesday about 10:45 a.m.
The tremor apparently centered near Fredonia in northern Arizona, seven miles from Kanab, but it was experienced as far south as Flagstaff, Ariz., 150 miles southeast of Fredonia.
Rob Bickmore, Kanab police chief, reported that bricks fell from at least one house chimney. Plaster was shaken from the walls of the Kane County Courthouse.
Water sloshed from a fish aquarium inside the residence of Mrs. Garn Swapp.
Forrest Forbush, Utah Highway Patrol weighman at the Kanab checking station, said he noticed the quake for about 10 seconds. Others reported feeling it for as much as two minutes. Mr. Forbush watched its waving motion along the earth's surface.
Inside the checking station, the radio, typewriter and microphone rattled.
A truck driver told Mr. Forbush that he "thought his steering had gone haywire" as he drove along the highway toward Kanab.
Most common phenomena near the epicenter of the quake in Fredonia was the breakage of dishes and vases in homes, foodstuffs in cans tumbling to the floors of markets and window breakage. There were no reported injuries.
Lowell Ford, Page, Ariz., said it was the worst quake he had experienced in the area in 40 years. Several persons said the quake exceeded in severity a reasonably strong quake of 15 years ago.
The University of Utah seismograph, according to Dr. Joseph W. Berg Jr., associate professor of geophysics, and director of the Seismology Laboratory, recorded the quake vibrations at 5 on the Richter Scale of 10 for about 10 minutes.
The device indicated that the slippage causing the tremors occurred on one of the many fault lines in northern Arizona.
Dr. Armand J. Eardley, professor of geology at the University of Utah, said that although no one can predict the time or place of an earthquake, the one Tuesday morning in all probability will be the last in this area for some time.
In California, Dr. Eardley said, a small quake may be the forerunner of a larger one, but this has not been the pattern in the Intermountain earthquake zone.
A zone containing numerous faults, he said, extends southward from Helena, Mont.
[Salt Lake Tribune; July 22, 1959]
What was described as the strongest earth tremor ever felt in this area occurred Tuesday morning at approximately 10:45 a.m. and was felt in a wide area covering southern Utah and northern Arizona.
It appears from reports that the tremor centered near Fredonia. It was felt as far south as Flagstaff, Arizona, 195 miles south of Kanab, and was strong enough in Kanab to break some plaster from buildings, knocked over several floor lamps and dishes from the shelves.
The University of Utah seismograph, according to Dr. Joseph W. Berg, recorded the quake vibrations at 5 on the Richter Scale of 10 for about 10 minutes.
This area is in a zone of numerous faults, which extend from Helena, Montana, through southeastern Idaho, western Wyoming, central Utah and into Arizona. To date the exact location of the fault slippage has not been determined.
Persons in the Kanab, Fredonia area reported the quake as lasting from about 10 seconds to as long as 2 minutes.
[Southern Utah News; July 23, 1959]
Return to Kanab Earthquake Summary.
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