It’s only March and already this new year has proven to be full of crazy, unforeseen events. The year started out with the new coronavirus coming to the United States. Since then, the coronavirus has continued to spread to the rest of the US, and has been declared to be a pandemic. In addition, there have been other occurrences that will cause this year to be truly unforgettable.

COVID-19 has caused many changes in the way the world is functioning. Many of these changes are ones that are completely new to everyone involved. Some of these modifications include school closures, adjusted store hours and the suspension of religious meetings. These adaptations are some that have never before been experienced. The last pandemic to occur was the 2009 N1H1 flu outbreak―which was only eleven years ago. However, that pandemic was not nearly so widespread as coronavirus is turning out to be.

As if a pandemic outbreak wasn’t enough, Utah decided to shake things up a little bit―literally. On March eighteenth, just after seven in the morning, an earthquake hit. The quake only lasted for twenty seconds, but in that short twenty seconds, damage was done. There were reports of broken porches and patios, and a partially collapsed, thankfully empty, building in Salt Lake. Overall, nothing too bad occurred. The earthquake was ranked a 5.7 at the epicenter―which was in Magna. As of 8:30 AM on Thursday, March nineteenth, there had been a total of 116 reported aftershocks, the magnitude decreasing more as time went on.

Overall, the first year of the decade has been a crazy roller coaster of events. With the way the year is going, who knows where we’ll be by the end of the year. The best we can do is play it out day by day and hope that we can all stay safe and protected.