Wells Nevada Earthquake--A strong earthquake with the Richer scale of 6.3 this morning has hit Nevada's Wells, where was founded in 1869 by Central Pacific Railroad, now known as Union Pacific Railroad. The epicenter of the earthquake in Elko County is 430 miles north of Las Vegas or about 250 km from Salt Lake City, Utah. The strong tremors left the sin city Las Vegas intact but did caused widespread damages in Wells. Luckily, there were no causalities caused. From Reuters
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck northeastern Nevada on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
There were no immediate reports of damage in the nearest large city, Salt Lake City, Utah, although some residents were shaken by the morning quake, local radio said.
The quake, centered 11 miles (18 km) southeast of Wells, Nevada, struck at 6:16 a.m. PST (1416 GMT), with a shallow epicenter of 6.27 miles (10km) deep.
Wells, a town of about 1,300 people, is 382 miles (614 km) north of the gambling center of Las Vegas and 150 miles (244 km) west of Salt Lake City.
From AP
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 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.