RENO, Nev. – The Nevada Seismological Laboratory is reporting that a magnitude (M) 3.5 earthquake occurred at 6:40 a.m., 15 miles southwest of Wells, Nev. at the base of the Ruby Mountains. There have been no reports of damage, although the tremor was felt in nearby Wells. Residents in Elko, 25 miles from the epicenter, also reported feeling the earthquake, which was initially reported as M 4.2 and refined to M 3.5.
"Due to an absence of monitoring stations in the eastern/central portion of the state, we are not able to constrain the location, depth and to some degree the magnitude as we would like," Graham Kent, director of the seismological lab, said. "The nearest instruments we have are over 200 km away in Utah; we would obviously like to increase the instrumentation and capabilities in this region, and throughout the state.
"Because of this uncertainty, we have a difficult time distinguishing between an aftershock of the 2008 M 6.0 earthquake, an independent event or a static stress transfer event on a nearby fault that ‘feels' stress loading from previous earthquake," said Kent.
On Feb. 21, 2008, Wells was struck by an M 6.0 earthquake that damaged buildings, including the high school, government offices and, notably, older unreinforced masonry buildings.
The Nevada Seismological Laboratory is a public service and research division within the College of Science at the University of Nevada, Reno. Its mission is monitoring earthquakes affecting the state, understanding the science behind them and outreach on earthquake hazards.
The laboratory operates a statewide network of seismographic stations and investigates the sizes, frequencies of occurrence and distribution of earthquakes in the region, and other problems related to seismic risk in Nevada.
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