Coal Mine Collapses After Utah Quake

HUNTINGTON, Utah – A coal mine collapsed Monday shortly after a magnitude 4.0 earthquake that was centered less than 20 miles away, the Emery County sheriff said.

There was no word on whether any miners were trapped.

However, Rocky Mountain Power, which owns a different coal mine nearby, sent a rescue team and heavy equipment, spokesman Dave Eskelsen said.

The earthquake occurred at 2:48 a.m., and a “short time later we received information about the cave-in at Genwal mine,” Sheriff Lamar Guymon told KSL radio in Salt Lake City.

A command center was being set up in Huntington, about 15 miles from the mine, said Teresa Behunin, an accountant affiliated with the mine.

She had no other details.

The sheriff’s office had said earlier there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries blamed on the quake, centered under the Huntington Canyon area, about 100 miles southeast of Salt Lake City.