5.7-magnitude earthquake rattles Utah

A magnitude-5.7 earthquake gave the Salt Lake City area a strong jolt Wednesday morning. A magnitude-5.7 earthquake gave the Salt Lake City area a strong jolt Wednesday morning. Photo: USGS Photo: USGS Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close 5.7-magnitude earthquake rattles Utah 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

A magnitude-5.7 earthquake gave the Salt Lake City area a strong jolt Wednesday morning, killing power to tens of thousands.

It's the largest earthquake Utah has seen since 1992 and the shaking was widely felt in the Wasatch Front.

The quake hit near Magna, about 10 miles west of Salt Lake City, at 6:09 a.m. at a depth of 6 miles.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert called on people to stay away from downtown Salt Lake while crews assessed damage. "Unless you work in public safety, or are an essential employee, remain at home or telework," Herbert wrote on Twitter.

He also tweeted that the Utah Coronavirus hotline was down as a result of the quake and the Poison Control Center was evacuated.

Utah just experienced its largest earthquake since 1992. It was a 5.9 in St. George. #utquake https://t.co/IYfUP8hnRy — Utah Emergency Mgmt (@UtahEmergency) March 18, 2020

There were reports of minimal damage such as cracks in brick buildings and in sidewalks.

More information on this earthquake is available on the USGS event page.

See the latest USGS quake alerts, report feeling earthquake activity and tour interactive fault maps in the earthquake section.

Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com.