"There's confidence that comes with preparation, and my goal is to get the populace familiar with how to protect themselves." Nevada is the third most active state for earthquakes after California and Alaska.īecause earthquakes cannot be predicted, Kenneston said, the most important thing he's focused on is public education. "It ranges from people who used to live in seismic zones like California, who don't think it's a big deal, to some people like the elderly or frail, who are very concerned." "There are a variety of reactions, just like there are a variety of personality types," Kenneston said. : Have you felt the quakes? Send us your reportĪaron Kenneston, the Washoe County emergency manager, said reaction from the public has been mixed."We make noises over the intercom, sort of a 'mock earthquake,' and had the kids do the duck, cover and hold method." "By the third drill, they pretty much have it down," Beck Principal Kristen Brown said with a laugh. See a map of where the earthquakes hit »Īt Jesse Beck Elementary School in Reno, there have been three earthquake drills in the past month, prompted by the string of quakes that began in February. "Whether this last one is the final one of that building pattern is the question, and it will only be answered with time," said Tom Rennie, a seismic analyst with the Nevada Seismological Laboratory. In this case, several smaller temblors led to a larger one, which caused minor damage to shops and homes. Typically, several small aftershocks follow a larger quake. No one fault line has been identified as the culprit, and the pattern of the earthquakes also has scientists saying they are confused. The quakes have prompted schools to teach more emergency drills while seismologists examine the data for clues. Although not sufficient time for typical public information distribution, systems could potentially be developed for recognizing immediate unusual earthquake activity in urban areas.Quakes aren't uncommon there, but analysts just do not know what has caused 344 of them in the area in the past week, the strongest of which was magnitude 4.7. A short term 20-minute energetic foreshock sequence preceded the 2015 Mw 4.2 Thomas Creek earthquake in south Reno. The sequence lasted several months with only an M 3.2 event as the largest of the sequence. A small sequence in 2013 near Virginia City, NV, motivated the local emergency community to conduct regular conference calls in planning discussions primarily to address difficult access to the Virginia City area if indeed a large event was imminent. The 2014 Spanish Springs sequence also began with small magnitude activity that evolved to an Mw 4.2 earthquake damaging buildings on the University of Nevada Reno campus. Several notable sequences of small events have evolved into felt (M4+) earthquakes with local damage the most significant recent sequence was the 2008 Mogul, west urban swarm that began with an increase in initial small magnitude activity culminating in a very shallow Mw 4.7 event three months later with damage to residences and local infrastructure. The small 2019 sequence demonstrates the response to urban seismicity that is now standard procedure at the Nevada Seismological Laboratory. Based on the recent history of small magnitude foreshock activity in the urban Reno area, the ability to observe the early development of sequences in sensitive modern networks provides ample opportunity to inform the public of ongoing activity in populated areas. At present, no additional earthquakes have been recognized. Preliminary HYPODD relocations suggest a 1x1 km structure striking NNW and dipping steeply to the SW short period mechanisms indicate high angle right-lateral strike-slip faulting. The largest event was only M 1.80 with 10 events greater than or equal to M 1.0. A minor sequence of 78 small earthquakes occurred in the north Reno area, June 19 to June 22, 2019.
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