Multiple earthquakes including magnitude 5.9 earthquake felt across northern California and Nevada

Multiple earthquakes felt across northern California and Nevada as U.S. Geological Survey records magnitude 5.9 earthquake near Smith Valley


Multiple earthquakes could be felt across northern California including parts of the Bay Area and Sacramento and parts of Nevada on Thursday afternoon.

The US Geological Survey recorded a magnitude 5.9 earthquake, that was about six miles deep, about 3:50 p.m. local time that happened south of Topaz Lake  and about 20 miles from Smith Valley, Nevada near the Nevada-California border.

Then, just minutes later, a magnitude 4.8 earthquake was reportedly recorded near Farmington in San Joaquin County, officials said. However, that earthquake appears to have since been removed from the USGS website.

Those two locations are about 100 miles apart.

Multiple earthquakes could be felt across northern California including parts of the Bay Area and Sacramento and parts of Nevada on Thursday afternoon

Data from the USGS also shows several smaller earthquakes with magnitudes ranging from 3.1 up to 4.2 happened minutes apart from each other after the 5.9 magnitude earthquake in the Smith Valley area.

The California Office of Emergency Services said in a statement that there are no preliminary reports of damage or injuries.

‘This is a rapidly evolving situation & more details will emerge in the coming hours. We are working closely with local officials to ensure they have the resources and support to rapidly respond to these earthquakes,’ the agency tweeted.

In Nevada, the Carson City Sheriff’s Office and its dispatch center told CarsonNow.org that the agency reported feeling the earthquakes. 

The outlet noted that there have also been no reports of damage or injuries in the Carson City area. 

Dr. Lucy Jones, a seismologist, tweeted that the magnitude 5.9 earthquake felt 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,’ she tweeted. 

She added that a magnitude 6 earthquake is usually felt for more than 100 miles ‘so it is not surprising it was felt in the Central Valley’ of California.

Hundreds of people also took to Twitter to describe their experiences during the earthquakes.

‘That was the scariest earthquake I’ve ever experienced!,’ @GlennCocoooo tweeted.

Twitter user @Theyloveeash wrote: ‘Why I was in the grocery store durin the earthquake n then all of a sudden I hear this loud ass alarm. I was like yea lemme take my black a** home.’

‘I didn’t feel an earthquake, the earthquake felt me,’ Twitter user @LugarTimmy joked.

Meanwhile, Twitter user @alyssaaaguillen quipped: ‘Pretty sure the world is ending and honestly I believe this earthquake was a sign, I should text him.’