The small town of Hawthorne, Nevada has been hit by a string of earthquakes during the early hours of December 28, local media outlets report. According to MyNews 4 , an NBC affiliate, the first earthquake was felt at around 12:18 a.m., local time, on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2016. A second earthquake of magnitude 5.7 was then reported just four minutes later. Following this, there was an immediate aftershock of magnitude 3.6 just 11 minutes later at 12:29 a.m. This was followed by another small 3.9 magnitude earthquake. As of this writing, there was a fifth, larger aftershock of magnitude 5.7 that hit the area at around 1:13 a.m. In all, there were a total of seven noticeable earthquakes in a relatively short period of time.
The U.S. Geological Survey too has confirmed the news about the series of earthquakes through its official Twitter handle. The series of tweets in which the USGS confirmed the earthquakes have been embedded below. The USGS data reveals that the epicenter of the earthquakes were located 56 miles from Gardnerville Ranchos, Nevada, 69 miles from South Lake Tahoe, California, 70 miles from Carson City, Nevada, and 84 miles from Fernley, Nevada. USGS also went on to add that all the earthquakes were pretty shallow in nature.
5.5 #earthquake (((36))) Wed Dec 28 04:13:47 EST 2016 near 26km SW of #Hawthorne , #Nevada https://t.co/elK96su4P1 pic.twitter.com/yBHSvbgSa3
— ?Earthquake?SISMO? (@BlueSkyHDD) December 28, 2016
Prelim M5.8 earthquake California-Nevada border region Dec-28 08:18 UTC, updates https://t.co/ZOFHKGH9Va
— USGS Big Quakes (@USGSBigQuakes) December 28, 2016
Prelim M5.7 earthquake California-Nevada border region Dec-28 08:22 UTC, updates https://t.co/eGj2VxQtaE
— USGS Big Quakes (@USGSBigQuakes) December 28, 2016
Prelim M5.6 earthquake California-Nevada border region Dec-28 09:13 UTC, updates https://t.co/YYSmfuJKjG
— USGS Big Quakes (@USGSBigQuakes) December 28, 2016
As of now, there are no reports of any damage or injuries. However, people from across the region confirmed feeling the earthquakes with light shaking being felt as far away as South Lake Tahoe, Fresno, Visalia, and Merced.
People also took to Twitter to talk about the series of earthquakes. We have embedded some tweets below.
Earthquake in Nevada. 2016 will end with San Francisco sinking
— Liz (@RakkoLiz) December 28, 2016
It was a 5.8 earthquake in Nevada
— AHTNOM (@AyyyCindaaay) December 28, 2016
In the movie San Andreas the first earthquake was in Nevada, just a few days later the big earthquake hit…. #earthquake
— pc andrew ????? (@aandrewxgomez) December 28, 2016
The town of Hawthorne is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Mineral County, Nevada. It is located very close to the border with California and serves as a major Army Depot as well. Meanwhile, the California governor’s Office of Emergency Services has issued a statement saying that it is still assessing of the earthquakes caused any damage to life or property.
Swarm of #earthquakes reported by @USGSBigQuakes , epicenter #Hawthorne , #Nevada . The latest- roughly 1:12a, magnitude 5.6. #earthquake pic.twitter.com/60wI418JDC
— Craig Fiegener (@CraigNews3LV) December 28, 2016
The news of this earthquake comes just a few weeks after a major magnitude 6.5 earthquake was reported from the Northern California coast earlier this month. That tremor was epicentered under the floor of the Pacific ocean, around 100 miles west of Ferndale. Even though the quake happened under the ocean, there was no tsunami, mainly because of the shallow nature of the tremor. For the same reason, there was no violent shaking on land that would have been typical of an earthquake of that magnitude.
Update: Hours after the earthquakes hit the region, we have confirmation from The Mineral County Sheriff’s Department that people living near Hawthorne, the epicenter of the quake clearly felt the earthquake. Staff at the Sheriff’s office confirmed that there was noticeable shaking when the quakes struck. However, the department also confirmed that no injury or damage has been reported from the area. Several people however, complained about the quakes triggering burglar alarms at two businesses. There was also a report of a rock sliding off a small cliff on to a highway. However, traffic was not affected.
[Featured image by PublicDomainPictures/ Pixabay ]
