Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

6.0 quake shakes Wells, Nev. (UPDATED)

Earthquake Fast Facts

  • Major earthquakes above magnitude 7.0 rumble in Nevada on average once every 27 years. The last quake occurred on Northern Nevada's Fairview Peak east of Fallon in 1954.
  • A 7.1 magnitude quake at Hector Mine in Southern California's Mojave Desert on Oct. 17, 1999 was felt in Las Vegas.
  • Large earthquakes -- 6.0 magnitude to 6.9 -- capable of damaging buildings, such as Thursday's temblor in Wells occur once every 10 years in Nevada. The last one occurred on Sept. 12, 1994 at Double Spring Flat, south of Gardnerville in Doublas County.
  • The largest Southern Nevada earthquake measured a magnitude 5.5 at Little Skull Mountain in Amargosa Valley, 12 miles from the proposed high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, on June, 29, 1992.
  • No one is known to have been killed in a Nevada earthquake, but records on the state's temblors go back only to the 1850s.
  • Earthquakes less than 3.5 magnitude are almost never felt by people.

Source: University of Nevada, Reno Seismological Laboratory

Click to enlarge photo

Nevada gets its fair share of earthquakes. The past 150-plus years have been seismically active. Although Southern Nevada hasn't experienced any major modern-day temblors, Northern Nevada has had some large quakes. Recent activity for the state includes a 6.3 magnitude event Thursday, February 21, 2008, in Elko County.

FEMA heading to Wells to assess damage - 12:40 p.m.: The latest from Wells, Nev., where a major earthquake struck at 6:16 this morning is that aftershocks are continuing to shake the region. Damage reports are mounting and a federal emergency management team is preparing to fly to the small railroad town 430 miles north of Las Vegas.

The earthquake, which has been measured at between a 6.0 magnitude and a 6.3 magnitude, struck 11 miles southeast of Wells, said Diane dePolo, network seismologist for UNR’s Seismology Laboratory.

Twenty five buildings collapsed in or near Wells and 700 homes were damaged, dePolo said.

One person suffered a broken arm, but no deaths and no other major injuries have been reported, dePolo said.

The Flying J Truck Stop was evacuated after a propane tank began leaking.

At the Wells High School, chemicals in classroom laboratories had spilled, creating a hazardous situation, dePolo said.

Firefighters, sheriff's deputies and U.S. Forest Service rangers were going door to door in the community of 1,200 people to search for anyone in danger, dePolo said.

In the first hour after the temblor, the Nevada seismic lab recorded 30 aftershocks, dePolo said.

The quake in Elko County, on the Idaho-Nevada border, was felt in Salt Lake City, across northern Nevada and in Orange, Calif.

The Nevada lab recorded the temblor as a 6.3 magnitude, while the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colo., reported first a 6.3 magnitude then a 6.0 magnitude, dePolo said.

"It's a major quake," she said.

The National Guard is preparing later today to fly a federal emergency management team into Wells from Sacramento, Calif.

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7:25 a.m. - Update from the Associated Press: Elko County Undersheriff Rocky Gonzalez said damage was widespread, with people reporting cracked walls and foundations. At least one building collapsed, he said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries, he said.

The Flying J Truck Stop was evacuated because of a propane leak, Gonzalez said.

A person who answered the phone at Wells Elementary School said there were cracks in walls and items were displaced.

"It was pretty bad," said Jane Kelso, who answered the phone at the Motel 6. "Everything in our whole building shook. We have cracks in our walls."

The temblor was felt across eastern Nevada, Utah and as far away as Southern California and Boise, Idaho.

In Twin Falls, Idaho, residents reported severe shaking and items falling off shelves.

Wells is about 350 miles east of Reno on Interstate 80.

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7:20 a.m.: A 6.0 magnitude earthquake rocked the northeastern corner of Nevada today at 6:16 a.m., the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The quake, initially estimated as a 6.3 magnitude trembler, struck 11 miles south-southeast of the small railroad town of Wells, Nev., the USGS said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The epicenter of the earthquake in Elko County is 430 miles north of Las Vegas.

Wells was founded in 1869 by Central Pacific Railroad, today known as Union Pacific Railroad.

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