20 small quakes shake Reno

by cynthia yoo | June 9, 2008 at 10:44 am

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Some 20-odd minor earthquakes rattled Reno, Nevada, causing houses and buildings to sway.

No major injuries or property damage have been reported but the series of tremors that took place over a period of 12 hours on Sunday, frayed the nerves of residents.

Magnitude-3.9 and 3.6 quakes struck within a couple minutes of each other shortly before 11 a.m. and were preceded by 3.2 and 3.0 quakes early Sunday, said researchers at the seismological laboratory at the University of Nevada, Reno.
"I was thinking, 'Here we go with the big one,"' said Daryl DiBitonto, a Reno resident who felt the quake at home. "Late in the morning, I thought the whole house was going to come down. Every time I feel a 3, I think it's going to be the big one. Totally, everyone is on edge again."

Diane dePolo, a lab seismologist, said it was the strongest sequence of quakes in the past month and signaled a pickup in activity after a recent lull.

"We had a little pickup in activity on Tuesday and nothing significant until today," dePolo said. "We are monitoring them, but we can't say if it'll get better or worse. There is no way to predict earthquakes."