The largest earthquake in 66 years struck Nevada

A M 6.5 earthquake that hit on Friday, May 15, 2020 is the largest one to occur in Nevada since 1954.

The temblor struck at 4:03 a.m. local time on May 15, 2020, 56 kilometers west of Tonopah, a town located in Nye County, Nevada and 362 kilometers northwest of Las Vegas.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the seismic shock was shallow as its epicentral depth was 2.8 kilometers. The earthquake occurred within the Walker Lane, a geologic trough roughly aligned with the border of California and Nevada. The quake was a result of a strike-slip fault movement on the North American Plate.

The earthquake was felt across a wide region including Reno in Nevada, Sacramento and San Diego in California. "There have been almost 8,000 'Did you feel it' reports,” Paul Laustsen, USGS spokesman, stated.

The incident was followed by two major aftershocks (M 5.4) that hit within a short time period. According to a forecast issued by USGS, 79 to 190 seismic shocks greater than M 3.0 will probably occur within a week. The possibility of an earthquake measuring more than the mainshock is 4%.

Fortunately, until now, there has been no severe impact on infrastructure or casualties associated with the seismic shock.

Some cracks were apparently formed due to the earthquake on a section of U.S. 95, a highway that connects Reno and Las Vegas. The roadway has been closed for repairs. Moreover, there have been reports about broken windows in some houses in the town of Tonopah, cracks on asphalt streets, shelves being knocked off, as well as a minor impact on several sidewalks. “Overall, everything appears to be sound at this point. However, we have learned that other than obvious earthquake damage some damage is discovered later," Arnold Knightly, Nye County spokesman, mentioned.

Back in December 1954, two major earthquakes with magnitudes of M 7.2 and M 6.8 struck Nevada at Fairview Peak and Dixie Valley, respectively. The seismic shocks occurred with a time difference of only 4 minutes.

The last big earthquake to hit Nevada occurred in 2008. Measuring M 6.0, it struck near the city of Wells causing at least 3 injuries and severe infrastructure damage. The earthquake occurred on a normal fault that was (at that time) unidentified.