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Earthquake Rattles Northeast Nevada
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by The Associated Press | February 21, 2008 at 07:00 am
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WELLS, Nev. (AP) A
strong earthquake shook rural northeastern Nevada Thursday, causing at
least one building to collapse, authorities said.The magnitude of the quake, initially estimated at 6.3, was later
revised to 6.0 by the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake
Information Center in Golden, Colo. The quake, which struck at 6:16
a.m., was centered in a sparsely populated area 11 miles southeast of
Wells near the Nevada-Utah line."It was pretty bad," said Jane Kelso, who answered the phone at the
Motel 6. "Everything in our whole building shook. "We have cracks in
our walls."The temblor was felt across eastern Nevada, Utah and as far away as
Southern California. In Twin Falls, Idaho, residents reported severe
shaking and items falling off shelves."Definitely a lot of people felt this, and if they were sleeping, they
were awoken," said USGS geophysicist Carrieann Bedwell.Elko County Undersheriff Rocky Gonzalez said there were reports of some
damage to buildings. At least one building collapsed, he said, and a
Flying J truck stop was evacuated because of a propane leak, he said.There were no immediate reports of serious injuries, but a manager at
the truck stop said the store was a wreck, with groceries and goods
scattered. One woman was reportedly injured when cigarette rack fell on
her.In Wendover, Utah, on the Nevada-Utah line, Tammy Wadsworth was ironing clothes when the quake hit.
"I kept thinking, 'When is it going to quit?' A couple pictures fell
off the walls," she said. "One of my grandkids ran outside. They didn't
know what else to do. It scared them."
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at 07:37 on February 21st, 2008
Here's the Earthquake Data Center's writeup of the quake.
at 10:16 on February 21st, 2008
I've spoken to two residents of Wells Nevada, who both described how scary it was to be woken up with their beds shaking and the contents of their houses rattling around them.
"My husband was already up getting ready for work," says Kristie Smith, "and I tried to get out of bed and run down the stairs to see if my kids were ok, but it took me a long time because of all the shaking."
Elderly resident John Smith says they had another aftershock only 15 mintues ago, and even that was quite strong. "Both TVs fell over," he says, "and the whole house is a mess."
Residents of the town are still unsure of what to do from here, although two evacuation centres are in the process of being set up as heat and gas supplies have been shut off to most of the town.
Read the full article of the eyewitness accounts here.
at 13:01 on February 21st, 2008
According to Kevin McKinney, a Sargent at the Sheriff's office in nearby Elko, the fire department and ambulance services in Wells have now reported that there is structural damage to between 20 and 25 buildings, but no structural fires have broken out.
"There is a water main that has burst," Mr. McKinney says, "and water is gushing out at about 20,000 gallons a minute. However, that should soon be under control, and we have shut off water and power to the majority of the town now."
Mr. McKinney says it is just lucky that no serious injuries have been reported yet, aside from someone with a broken arm, someone else with heavy lacerations to their body, and a third report of someone having trouble breathing.
"We're just really lucky that there's nothing significant so far in relation to injuries", says Mr. McKinney.