A significant earthquake swarm is underway east of Lake Tahoe in west central Nevada; USGS has recorded more than 175 earthquakes in the last 24 hours, including a magnitude 5.8 event yesterday and a magnitude 4.2 event today. More than 10,000 people have reported feeling these earthquakes across Nevada and central California, including the San Francisco Bay area; these people used the USGS “Did you feel it?” web-based reporting tool to report shaking. Carson City and Reno have experienced the most shaking from these earthquakes.
According to the University of Nevada at Reno, over the last 150 years, Nevada has ranked third in the country in the number of large earthquakes. Since the 1850s, 76 earthquakes with potentially destructive magnitudes of 5.5 or greater have occurred in Nevada. Nevada is considered “earthquake country” and officials there are encouraging people in the state to prepare for an earthquake and know how to take care during and after one hits.
Because of the risk of earthquakes in Nevada, there is a robust seismic monitoring network in place. The network is operated by the Nevada Seismological Laboratory and is primarily supported by the State of Nevada through Statewide Programs at the University of Nevada, Reno, USGS, the Nevada Earthquake Safety Council, and the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) through a Cooperative Agreement managed within the Advanced National Seismic System initiative.
