Commentary: National earthquake program is vital to Utah

The earthquake threat in Utah is real. The chance of one or more large earthquakes of magnitude 6.75 or greater in the Wasatch Front region in the next 50 years is 43 percent, according to a 2016 report produced by a team of seismic hazard experts from the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Utah, the Utah Geological Survey and others.More than 80 percent of Utah’s population and 75 percent of its economy is concentrated in an urban corridor that sits astride the five most active seg