A pair of earthquakes rattle Death Valley

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Monday, Sept. 27, 1999 | 12:39 p.m.

STOVEPIPE WELLS, Calif. -- A pair of moderate earthquakes struck a remote area near the California-Nevada border Sunday, but there were no reports of injury or damage, officials said.

A 4.3-magnitude tremor struck at 9:15 a.m. about 20 miles north-northwest of Stovepipe Wells, a camping area at Death Valley National Park, said Nick Scheckel, a seismologist with the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

It was followed by a 4.0-magnitude aftershock at 1:11 p.m., Scheckel said.

It wasn't immediately clear if the quakes' epicenter was in the park or just outside its boundary.

There were no calls to the Inyo County Sheriff's Department reporting any injuries or damage from either quake, a dispatcher said.

A spokeswoman at Death Valley National Park said there were very few campers in Death Valley at this time of the year.