A series of 19 earthquakes struck the California-Nevada border starting Thursday afternoon, including a magnitude 6.0 earthquake south of Lake Tahoe that shook a large part of both states.
The majority of earthquakes registered at a magnitude of at least 3.0 and California residents reported feeling the shake as far west as San Francisco and as far south as San Jose, SFGATE reported. More than 15,000 reports of shaking were submitted following the magnitude 6.0 earthquake at Little Antelope Valley near the border, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Seismologist Lucy Jones explained in a tweet Thursday that the series of earthquakes along the California-Nevada border “is a classic normal faulting earthquake for eastern California.”
The M5.9 this afternoon is a classic normal faulting earthquake for eastern California. As is common in this region, there are a lot of aftershocks – 10 above M3 in the first hour.https://t.co/b4WBvbM00x pic.twitter.com/8bwslx5pxj
— Dr. Lucy Jones (@DrLucyJones) July 8, 2021
The California Department of Transportation reported several rockslides in northern Mono County in a tweet Thursday after the area was struck by a magnitude 4.8 earthquake. The incident forced U.S. Route 495 to shut down for about an hour as responders cleared fallen rocks and State Route 89 remains closed, according to the department. (RELATED: Early Morning Earthquake Trio Rocks Los Angeles)
“The ground was shaking pretty bad, and then everything started falling,” local coffee shop manager Carolina Estrada told The Associated Press (AP), adding that syrup bottles and dishes broke following a shockwave and the shop’s roof caved in as well. Estrada also said “boulders the size of cars” fell onto the nearby U.S. Route 395.
— Brett Durrant (@brettdurrant) July 9, 2021
The California Highway Patrol also reported rockslides in Carson Valley near the city of Coleville after the area was struck by a magnitude 5.9 earthquake, The Record-Courier reported.
Reno City Hall in Nevada was evacuated following the series of earthquakes, which were among the largest earthquakes to hit the region in almost 25 years, according to the Reno Gazette Journal. Reno City Mayor Hillary Schieve told the outlet the building “shook pretty good.”
“People in the area should expect aftershocks for days following an earthquake of this size,” said Jason Ballman with the Southern California Earthquake Center at the University of Southern California, according to The AP. “We’ve already seen a pretty vigorous aftershock sequence.”
