Community preparedness — Utah
Earthquakes, wildfire, drought, flooding from snowmelt, and extreme temperature swings across 29 counties. USU Extension statewide. CERT teams throughout the Wasatch Front. Ham operators who train specifically for post-earthquake operations.
Enter your ZIP to find volunteer groups, training programs, civic organizations, and mutual aid networks in your area.
Organizations and programs near you
Emergency response & training
Food & mutual aid
Skills & learning
Civic & service organizations
Don't see what you're looking for? Search Google Maps →
Community calendar
29
County extension offices
2
NWS forecast offices
15+
Amateur radio clubs
3
Community colleges
Where to plug in
Utah's hazard profile is unique: the Wasatch Fault Zone beneath the Salt Lake Valley is one of the most seismically hazardous faults in the country, capable of a magnitude 7+ earthquake. Add wildfire, drought, flooding from record snowpack, and the isolation of rural Utah counties, and you have a state with extraordinary preparedness needs. USU Extension in all 29 counties builds that capacity.
Utah State University Extension serves all 29 Utah counties. Programming spans agriculture (Utah's diverse landscape supports everything from hay and cattle in Cache Valley to orchards and vineyards in the Wasatch Front), horticulture, food safety, nutrition, 4-H, and community development. USU Extension's earthquake preparedness programming is among the most developed in the Mountain West.
The Master Gardener program trains volunteers for Utah's challenging climate — high-altitude desert, alkaline soils, and extreme cold. Extension runs food preservation workshops, wildfire preparedness, water conservation, and Wasatch Front earthquake preparedness education. The 72-hour kit preparedness culture deeply embedded in Utah communities owes much to extension and community preparedness programs.
Utah Division of Emergency Management (Utah DEM) coordinates the state's all-hazards emergency program. Utah's EM planning is particularly focused on Wasatch Fault earthquake preparedness — a major rupture would simultaneously damage or destroy infrastructure across the entire Wasatch Front, affecting over 80% of the state's population.
CERT programs are active across Utah. Salt Lake, Utah, Davis, Weber, Cache, and other counties run programs. Utah has one of the strongest neighborhood preparedness cultures in the country, partly driven by faith community preparedness programs that complement CERT training. After the March 2020 magnitude 5.7 earthquake near Magna, Utah, CERT enrollment grew significantly. Training is free.
The American Red Cross Utah Region serves the entire state through chapters in Salt Lake City, Provo, and St. George. First aid, CPR, AED, and water safety classes are offered year-round. Utah Red Cross trains and plans specifically for a major Wasatch Fault earthquake response, which would require simultaneous mass casualty operations across Salt Lake, Utah, Davis, and Weber counties. Volunteer entry points include shelter operations, disaster assessment, and blood drives.
Utah has over 15 amateur radio clubs in the ARRL Utah Section. Utah ARES trains specifically for post-earthquake operations — a Wasatch Fault rupture would likely damage or destroy much of the Wasatch Front's communication infrastructure, making ham radio the primary backup. Utah ARES runs regular earthquake-scenario exercises. Getting licensed costs $15. Study at hamstudy.org.
NWS Salt Lake City serves most of Utah, with NWS Elko NV covering western Utah and NWS Grand Junction CO covering eastern Utah. Each runs SKYWARN spotter training. Utah's weather hazards include wildfire (2022 saw catastrophic fires across Utah), flash flooding from summer monsoon thunderstorms, heavy mountain snowfall, and the drought cycle that has stressed Great Salt Lake to historic lows. Training is free.
Utah has over 70 public library locations overseen by the Utah State Library. Salt Lake City Public Library, Provo City Library, and the Salt Lake County Library system run extensive programming. Utah libraries serve as emergency hubs and community information centers — particularly important in outlying rural counties where they may be the only public facility.
Utah's community colleges include Salt Lake Community College, Utah Valley University (Orem), and Snow College (Ephraim). They offer EMT certification, fire science, welding, electrical work, HVAC, and automotive programs. Dixie State University (now Utah Tech) and Southern Utah University also serve rural communities.
Why this matters
The Wasatch Fault Zone runs beneath the string of cities — Logan, Ogden, Salt Lake City, Provo, Springville — that house over 80% of Utah's population. Geologists estimate that a full rupture of the central Wasatch Fault could produce a magnitude 7.0 earthquake, causing catastrophic damage across the entire corridor. It is considered one of the highest seismic hazard areas in the country east of California.
Utah takes this seriously. CERT programs across the Wasatch Front train specifically for post-earthquake search and rescue, triage, and neighborhood coordination. Utah ARES runs exercises simulating the communication failures that would follow a major earthquake. Neighborhood preparedness groups — many organized through faith communities — maintain supplies and train volunteers.
In March 2020, a magnitude 5.7 earthquake near Magna gave Utah its first real post-earthquake CERT activation in years. While damage was limited, the experience validated years of training. Emergency managers were able to rapidly assess the situation partly because trained community volunteers conducted immediate neighborhood checks.
A Wasatch Fault rupture at the scale seismologists warn about would require the kind of neighborhood-level preparedness Utah has been building for decades. The organizations on this page are that preparedness across all 29 counties.
The foundation
Community resilience begins with a household that can take care of itself. Cover the first 72 hours, then extend outward to your street, your neighborhood, your town.
Start with the first 72 hours