Nevada shaken by M5.5 earthquake near Silver Springs; experts say bigger quakes are possible
LYON COUNTY, Nev. — A magnitude 5.5 earthquake centered about 12 miles from Silver Springs shook western Nevada Monday evening drawing attention to one of the state’s most active seismic regions.
Kyren Bogolub, a network seismologist with the UNR Laboratory, said the quake ranks among the biggest in Nevada in decades.
“I want to say in the last 60 years or so, I think it’s about the seventh largest earthquake in Nevada,” Bogolub said.
Part of activity along Walker Lane
The shaking is the latest earthquake tied to the Walker Lane — a highly active system of faults running for about 600 miles along the Nevada-California border.
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“So the Walker Lane is probably the most seismically active part of Nevada,” Bogolub said. “It’s not necessarily where we have the largest earthquakes, but it’s where we have the most.”
Bogolub added she wouldn’t be surprised to see a larger quake in the region in the future.
“I would say getting a magnitude 7 would not be shocking to me,” she said.
UNR medical students run earthquake disaster training
Farther north at the University of Nevada, Reno, about 180 medical students took part in a training exercise Tuesday focused on responding after a major earthquake — including a scenario where the number of patients exceeds available space.
“Nevada is the third most seismically active state in the Union, following California and Alaska, so it is absolutely plausible that we could have this situation,” said Jennifer Delaney, UNR’s training and exercise coordinator. She said the drill gives students experience they can draw on later in their careers.
The training was scheduled before Monday’s earthquake, but students said the timing made the message more real.
“It was… very interesting timing… to have an earthquake like that happen just one day before we had a training,” UNR medical student Ozzie Tavares said. “I think it made us all take it a lot more seriously… Nevada is always at risk for something like this to happen.”
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