Nevada is the third-most seismical state in the U.S., after California and Alaska with several active earthquake faults throughout the entire state. According to state seismologists, the northern part of the state experiences most activity. If even a moderately sized quake occurred near Las Vegas, it could cause devastating damage; however, thankfully, the handful of faults in the area have been rather quiet and none are capable of generating anything over a magnitude 7.0 which—for those of you who have never experienced an earthquake—is still pretty big. For comparison, the devastating 1906 San Francisco quake measured magnitude 7.9 and the 1994 Northridge earthquake that was felt in Nevada was magnitude 6.1. Luckily, when it comes to among the worst earthquakes in Nevada history, there have been seven in the past 100 years.
At 10:10 p.m. on 20 December, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake occurred near the Cedar Mountains. Reno was the first to feel the tremors and sustained the worst damage including broken windows and cracked stucco. The quake was felt from San Diego, California to Oregon and from the Pacific Ocean to the Rocky Mountains.
On 2 October at 11:52 p.m., a magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit the area causing damage to Battle Mountain, Lovelock, Kennedy, Winnemucca, and Pleasant Valley. Notice the white fault scarp (small offset step) running through the Tobin Range as a result of this quake. This earthquake altered the flow of some northern Nevada springs and streams.
Within two months of each other Nevada felt two more devastating earthquakes. On 6 July, a magnitude 6.6 quake struck Fallon causing several million dollars of significant damage to several older buildings, canals and drainage systems at the Newlands Reclamation Project, the local Naval Auxiliary Air Station where several sailors were injured, and several roads in Fallon and nearby Stillwater and Lone Tree. People in Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and California felt the tremor. Then, on 23 August, a magnitude 6.8 hit Stillwater, further damaging areas already damaged months earlier as well as Lovelock and Rogers Dam.
At 12:16 p.m. on 30 January, the Excelsior Mountains experienced a magnitude 6.5 quake. Because of the sparseness of the area, only a couple of cabins and the Silver Pike Mine sustained damage.
At 6:16 a.m. on 21 February, Wells sustained a magnitude 6.0 quake that damaged all 700 residential buildings, completely destroying 20, causing $10.5 million in damage.
In April, an earthquake swarm (called the Mogul-Somersett earthquake sequence) struck Reno: magnitude 3.6 on 15 April, magnitudes 4.1 and 4.2 on 24 April, and magnitude 4.7 on 25 April. More than 100 aftershocks occurred following these four large ones.
On a positive note, there has never been a single fatality as a result of a Nevada earthquake.
Do you remember any of these worst earthquakes in Nevada history? Please share your comments below.
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