North Lake Tahoe jolted by magnitude-5.3 quake

Brendan Riley

Friday, Oct. 30, 1998 | 7:57 a.m.

KINGS BEACH, Calif.. - Residents in the north Lake Tahoe region were jolted awake by a magnitude-5.3 earthquake early today that broke glass and knocked pictures off walls.

No injuries were reported and no major damage could be seen in this resort town on the northeast shore of the lake, which straddles the California-Nevada border, officials said.

The quake hit at 1:54 a.m., centered about 5 miles north-northeast of Kings Beach, and was followed a few minutes later by aftershocks of magnitude 2.8 and 3.0, said Waverly Person, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo.

The moderate temblor was felt as far away as Reno, Nev., about 30 miles northeast of Kings Beach.

"I was almost knocked off my feet and had to catch myself," said Sgt. John Giovannini, of the Placer County Sheriff's Department's North Lake Tahoe substation.

Giovannini was at an accident scene in Kings Beach with other emergency personnel when the earthquake hit.

"It lasted about a second," he said. "Another deputy looked up and saw light poles swaying. We saw some items strewn about in stores. A rash of burglar alarms went off. Dogs were barking. This was a pretty good one for Lake Tahoe."

Noreen Arnold, a cashier at the 7-Eleven store in Kings Beach, said some items fell off the shelves, but nothing broke.

"It was shaky. It was scary. It was noisy," Arnold said. "I thought something hit the building. When this one was going, I was going, 'What the hell is that?' Then I realized it's got to be an earthquake."

The Placer County Sheriff's Department substation in Tahoe City, about 8 miles southwest of Kings Beach along Lake Tahoe's north shore, was swamped with about 40 calls from worried residents, said dispatcher Kim Bromley.

Robin Jewell, a dispatcher at the Nevada County Sheriff's Department substation in Truckee, about 10 miles north of Kings Beach, said they had reports of glass breaking at some homes, but received no reports of injuries.

"It rattled our cages, that's for sure," Jewell said. "One woman called and said her 55-gallon fish tank had only about 3 gallons left in it. Some people said pictures fell off the wall."

Brian Morey, a night supervisor at a Chevron gas station in Truckee said it shook for about 30 seconds.

"Everything just started swaying," Morey said. "It was a good shaker."

An operator at Circus Hotel and Casino in Reno, Nev., said she felt the quake.

"We just felt a jolt. The desks were moving, waiving, but nothing fell," said Laura Matcham.

An operator at Caesars Tahoe in Stateline, Nev., about 20 miles south of Kings Beach, said two guests on the upper floors felt some shaking, but she didn't feel it on the ground floor.

The operator, who declined to give her name, said the guests reported "it was just like a couple of tremors."

No injuries or damage were reported at the hotel, she said.