Two miners were missing and nine others injured near Little America, Wyo., when a trona mine was damaged Friday in an earthquake that measured 5.4 on the Richter scale.
Authorities know the identities of the two missing miners but, at the families' requests, have not released their names.The quake struck at 8:26 a.m., collapsing part of the Solvay Minerals mine, which is about 20 miles north of the Utah border and 18 miles southwest of Green River, Wyo.
Area residents refer to the vicinity of the epicenter as "Trona Patch" because of the complex of five trona mines there. The area is home of one of the largest trona deposits in the world.
Trona is a yellowish-white mineral containing sodium that forms fibrous crystals and is the main source of soda ash used in making baking soda, glass and paper.
Official reports initially said mines in the vicinity apparently had no injuries and no collapses, although the quake was strong enough to rattle dishes and make lighting fixtures sway in Green River and Rock Springs, Wyo.
Residents of cities as distant as Salt Lake City and Ogden felt the earthquake. None of the four other trona mines reported damage from the incident.
Al Harris, public information officer for the county Emergency Management Agency, Rock Springs, said Friday afternoon, "We have two missing miners.
"There were a total of 55 underground (in the Solvay Minerals mine) at the time of the earthquake. Fifty-three are out, nine were taken to the hospital."
Mine officials told emergency officials that three of the injured miners were treated and released. The rest suffered bumps, bruises and some eye injuries that resulted from the trona dust in the mine. The remaining miners were released by 3:30 p.m. Friday.
The miners were about 1,500 feet underground when the earthquake hit, said Harris.
"The search and rescue teams have been sent in," Harris said. "We're told it could be 24 hours before they find these guys . . . We're also told there's a methane gas problem in the mine."
Rescue teams were detained from entering the mine for several hours because of the gas, which is potentially explosive. As of 7:30 p.m. Friday, two rescue crews of nine people were near the bottom of the mineshaft working on ventilation.
Kay Muir, a Bountiful woman whose brother works in the Solvay Minerals mine said he telephoned her Friday shortly after he got out of the mine. Muir refused to release his name.
"He was down in the mine when it happened. His birthday's tomorrow, and he said, `I just aged 20 years today,' " Muir said.
"He said it was pretty scary. He said, `I've never been through such a scary experience in my life.' "
The man could feel the quake's movements, she said.
"He said, `We didn't know what we'd find around the next bend, whether we'd get out of there or not,' " Muir said.
The two miners who were not located would have trouble getting out, according to her brother. He told her that they would have trouble getting out even if there were lights in the area. It was a two-hour walk for those who managed to get out of the mine.
"He was truly blessed. I'll tell you, the ones that got out of there were fortunate," Muir said.
Earthquakes are rare in Sweet-water County, but the the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo., said tremors do occasionally shake the area - though they are more common in northwestern Wyoming, where seismic activity is responsible for many of the geologic features seen in Yellowstone National Park.
The last major earthquake in Wyoming occurred nearly one year ago, when the Star Valley near the Idaho border was shaken by a temblor that measured 5.9.