Ridgecrest residents inspect a recent fault rupture following two large earthquakes in the area on July 7, 2019, near Ridgecrest, California. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
A series of 19 earthquakes struck along the California-Nevada border starting just before 4 pm Thursday, July 8, most of which struck with a magnitude of about 3.0. The largest reported earthquake was a 5.9 tremblor, the US Geological Survey reported. The latest quake occurred at roughly 3:49 pm local time, centered near Markleeville in Alpine County, about 20 miles southwest of Smith Valley. It was felt as far as Fresno, Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. Occurring at a depth of six miles, the quake caused rock slides on US 395, leading to a temporary closure of the highway. The State Department of Transportation announced the closure of 40 miles of highway, from Willow Springs to the Nevada border. The following aftershocks were felt as far as San Francisco and Carson City. US 395 southbound was closed at the Nevada-Califor
USA TODAY
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake shook the California-Nevada border Thursday afternoon, with people reporting feeling a jolt hundreds of miles away, as far as the Bay Area, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The earthquake, reported just south of Lake Tahoe, triggered a series of aftershocks with at least one with a 4.6 magnitude, the USGS said.
Regionally, “this would be the largest one in almost two and a half decades,” according to Graham Kent, director of the University of Nevada, Reno’s seismological lab. “It’s 5.9 and some change to the average person, it’s a magnitude 6.0.”
Though originally reported as at least two separate earthquakes, the false report came from an automatic systems error, said Seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones on Twitter. The USGS revised the report, removing one reported quake a few miles south of Stockton in central California.