Scores dead after worst earthquake in Nepal since 2015

Shock in Jajarkot in Karnali province about 300 miles west of Kathmandu caused at least 128 deaths and destroyed houses

Survivors are seen at a corridor of the Jajarkot district hospital in the aftermath of an earthquake Photograph: Balkumar Sharma/AFP/Getty Images

Guardian staff and agencies

Fri 3 Nov 2023 

At least 128 people have been killed and dozens injured after a strong earthquake struck western Nepal on Friday. Witnesses said houses in the area had collapsed and buildings were shaking hundreds of miles away.

The 5.6-magnitude quake hit the far west of the Himalayan country late Friday and was measured by the US Geological Survey at just 18 kilometres (11 miles) deep.

In Jajarkot district which is near the epicentre, 92 people were confirmed dead and another 55 injured, Nepal police spokesperson Kuber Kadayat said.

The quake killed at least 36 people in neighboring Rukum district, where numerous houses collapsed. At least 85 injured people had been taken to the local hospital, he said.

Troops were also clearing roads and mountain trails that were blocked by landslides triggered by the earthquake.

A doctor looks after a patient injured in an earthquake, evacuated from his village and brought to a hospital in Nepalgunj, Nepal. 

Photograph: Krishna Adikari/AP

“The remoteness of the districts makes it difficult for information to get through,” Karnali Province police spokesperson Gopal Chandra Bhattarai told the AFP news agency.


Bhattarai said Nepali security forces had been deployed extensively to assist with search and rescue operations.

“Some roads had been blocked by damage, but we are trying to reach the area through alternate routes,” he added.

The district hospital was packed with residents bringing in injured victims.

Ramidanda, where the epicentre lies, has not been reached by authorities yet.

Videos and photos posted on social media showed locals digging through rubble in the dark to pull survivors from the wreckage of collapsed homes and buildings.

Mud houses were flattened or damaged as survivors crouched outside for safety, as the sirens of emergency vehicles wailed.

Nepal’s prime minister Pushpa Kamal expressed “his deep sorrow over the human and physical damage caused by the earthquake”.

Nepal’s National Seismological Centre said the quake occurred at 11.47pm (18.02 GMT) in Jajarkot, a district of Karnali province. Jajarkot is about 500km (310 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu.

Buildings shook as far as away New Delhi, about 600km (375 miles) away, according to witnesses who spoke to Reuters. Videos on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, showed people running into the street as some buildings were evacuated.

Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report

Earthquake Leaves Trail Of Destruction In Nepal

Helicopters and ground troops rushed to help people hurt in a strong earthquake that shook northwestern Nepal districts just before midnight Friday, killing more than hundred people and injuring dozens more, officials said Saturday.


UPDATED: 04 NOV 2023 
1

Earthquake in northwestern Nepal | Photo: AP/PTI

This handout photo provided by Nepal Prime Minister's Office shows an earthquake-affected area in northwestern Nepal.

Nepal earthquake | Photo: PTI

Locals outside their houses after their collapse following a 6.4 magnitude earthquake, that killed at least 128 people and injured several others, in Nepal's Jajarkot.

Nepal earthquake | Photo: PTI

Damaged houses a day after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake that killed at least 128 people and injured several others, in Nepal's Jajarkot.

Nepal earthquake | Photo: PTI

Debris of the buildings a day after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake that killed at least 128 people and injured several others, in Nepal's Jajarkot.

Nepal earthquake | Photo: Sabin Dhamala via AP

This screen grab from video shows villagers stand in front of their damaged houses from last night earthquake in Jagarkot, Nepal.

Nepal earthquake | Photo: AP/Krishna Adikari

A doctor looks after a patient injured in an earthquake, evacuated from his village and brought to a hospital in Nepalgunj, Nepal.

Nepal earthquake | Photo: PTI

Nepal's Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' during his visit at the earthquake site, in Jajarkot. At least 128 people were killed and several others injured.

Earthquake in Nepalgunj, Nepal | Photo: AP/PTI

People airlifted from an earthquake-affected area arrive in Nepalgunj, Nepal. A strong earthquake has shaken northwestern Nepal, and officials say more than 100 people are dead and dozens more injured as rescuers search mountain villages.

Deadly earthquakes in Nepal since 2015

Reuters

November 4, 2023

]A damaged building is seen after an earthquake in Jajarkot, Nepal, November 4, 2023. Prime Minister Office/Handout via REUTERS Acquire Licensing Rights

Nov 4 (Reuters) - The Himalayan country of Nepal was hit by an earthquake on Friday in which 128 people were killed and dozens injured, with officials fearing the toll could rise.

The poor, mountainous nation wedged between Asian giants China and India has been hit by quakes often, with the deadliest recorded in 2015 when about 9,000 people were killed in two earthquakes.

Whole towns, centuries-old temples and other historic sites were reduced to rubble then, with more than 1 million houses destroyed, at a cost to the economy of $6 billion.

Below are details of Nepal’s deadly quakes since 2015.

NOV 3, 2023

At least 128 people were killed and dozens injured when a strong earthquake struck the western area of Jajarkot. Houses in the area collapsed and buildings as far away as capital New Delhi in neighbouring India shook. The German Research Centre for Geosciences measured the quake at magnitude 5.7, while the U.S. Geological Survey pegged it at 5.6.

OCT 3, 2023

Two earthquakes rocked western Nepal, injuring 17 people, damaging homes and triggering a landslide that blocked a major highway. The landslide after the quakes of magnitude 6.3 and 5.3 in the district of Bajhang, bordering India, blocked the road to the southern plains.

JAN 24, 2023

At least one person died and more than two dozen houses were damaged in a remote Nepalese district after an earthquake of magnitude 5.6. Tremors were felt as far away as New Delhi.

NOV 12, 2022

An earthquake of magnitude 5.4 struck Nepal, shaking houses in the Himalayan country and India.

NOV 9, 2022

An earthquake in western Nepal killed at least six villagers, four of them children, as the tremor destroyed mud and brick houses in remote communities living in the foothills of the Himalayas.

SEPT 16, 2020

An earthquake measuring magnitude 6 struck Nepal and tremors caused by the quake were felt in the capital, Kathmandu.

APRIL AND MAY 2015

The worst earthquake in Nepal's history struck at four minutes to midday on April 25. It measured magnitude 7.8 and was followed by a second tremor 17 days later, killing 9,000 people in total.

The previous deadliest earthquake to strike the country, in 1934, killed at least 8,519 in Nepal, as well as thousands more in India.


Compiled by YP Rajesh in New Delhi; Editing by Jamie Freed

A new earthquake warning system will prepare Canada for dangerous shaking


Shona L.van Zijll de Jong, 

Adjunct Professor,

 Geological Sciences and Engineering, 

Queen's University, Ontario

THE CONVERSATION
Wed, May 11, 2022

Damaged wood houses after the San Francisco Earthquake, April 18, 1906. (Shutterstock)

Large earthquakes can wreak enormous violence upon lives, livelihoods, infrastructure and the environment. High-density urban populations in the relatively small, seismically active areas of British Columbia and the Québec City-Montréal-Ottawa corridor leaves residents extremely vulnerable to earthquakes.

A 2013 report commissioned by the Insurance Bureau of Canada notes that “a major earthquake would have a significant economic impact regionally, and cause a domino effect on the economy of Canada, with major impacts on critical infrastructure, such as roads, electricity, communication and agriculture, public assets, residences and much more.”

It concluded that a 9.0-magnitude earthquake in British Columbia would rack up almost $75 billion in costs, and a 7.1-magnitude earthquake in the Québec City-Montréal-Ottawa corridor would cost almost $61 billion.

Canada does not have an earthquake early warning system to provide alerts to the 10 million people who live in these areas — or a national education initiative to develop an earthquake-aware culture. But that will soon change.
10 million at risk

Canada’s most active seismic zones fall into three main areas:

Charlevoix-Kamouraska seismic zone, along the St. Lawrence River in southeastern Québec.

Cascadia Subduction Zone, stretching from the north end of Vancouver Island to Cape Mendocino, Calif., and connected to the Queen Charlotte Fault, from Haida Gwaii northward along the Alaska coast.

Baffin Island and the Boothia and Ungava peninsulas in the Arctic, due to post-glacial rebound, where the ground slowly rises as glaciers melt.

Seismologists forecast significant shaking for Québec (Montréal, Québec City, Rivière-du-Loup), Ontario (Ottawa, Toronto) and British Columbia (Vancouver and Victoria) in the future. But earthquake prediction timelines are an imprecise science.

For example, the recurrence interval for a large earthquake in the Pacific Northwest is about 500 years — there have been seven in the past 3,500 years. Seismologists say there’s a 30 per cent chance of a megathrust earthquake — a very powerful quake that occurs at a subduction zone — in this fault zone in the next 50 years. But earthquakes are quasi-random — they don’t occur at regular time intervals.

Read more: Contrary to popular belief, Eastern Canada is more at risk of earthquakes than perceived

In my work with communities in New Zealand, Samoa and Nepal that have experienced lethal earthquakes, I’ve learned about individuals’ heightened risk awareness after an earthquake. Their stories taught me that time lost is lives lost, and that those who took protective action survived.

This life-risk awareness is the foundation of an earthquake early warning system. With only seconds of advance warning, people can take protective action such as drop, cover and hold on. But developing an earthquake-aware culture can take time.

Earthquake-prone communities often experience fatalities, anxiety and fear, and widespread damage to homes, infrastructure and economies. A community with an earthquake-aware culture has grasped lessons from seismology, social science and economics, painfully aware of what damages and losses it might experience.

Developing an earthquake-aware culture relies on the data collected by seismologists. Their interpretations help us understand how local fault lines will shake during an earthquake, how often the shaking has occurred in a location and how fast the shockwaves might travel.
2024: All systems go

In March, Natural Resources Canada set up an earthquake-monitoring station at the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal in West Vancouver, B.C., the first station in what will become a national early earthquake warning system by 2024.

The 1925 Charlevoix-Kamouiraska earthquake was felt all the way in Virginia and along the Mississippi River. It damaged several towns and cities along the St. Lawrence River and the aftershocks lasted for weeks. (Natural Resources Canada)

The system uses the same software as the early-warning system located along the U.S. West Coast. It aims to reduce the number of injuries, the cost of damage and losses, and the impact to critical infrastructure operations.

Millions of people — and the Canadian economy — could benefit from the early earthquake alert system. Once it is fully operational, it should provide five to nine seconds advance warning to those in Haida Gwaii, Queen Charlotte and Masset, B.C., for ruptures in the Queen Charlotte Fault, and 43 to 91 seconds for the mainland towns of Bella Bella, Prince Rupert and Kitimat, B.C. In Québec, a repeat of the 1988 Saguenay earthquake would offer 84 seconds advance warning for Montréal and 29 seconds for Québec City.

How people will respond to the alerts remains unknown. But Natural Resources Canada has funded the University of Calgary to work with the U.S. Geological Survey and the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology to learn from their experience of building an earthquake-aware culture, as well as with other nations, including Japan, China, Turkey, Greece and Italy.
Challenges and next steps

By 2024, the Canadian earthquake early-warning system will have more than 400 land-based sensors deployed throughout Ontario, Québec and British Columbia. It will send the alerts to radio, television, internet and cellular networks, allowing people to take action quickly.

The advance notice is meant to avert deaths. A mere 10 to 90 seconds warning could save lives, protect infrastructure and utilities. Researchers, however, still need a better understanding of how Canadians will respond to these alerts.

Vancouver Island’s historic earthquake was a 7.3 magnitude event that occurred at 10:13 a.m. on June 23, 1946. It damaged buildings in nearby communities, including the Bank of Montreal in Port Alberni. (NRCan)

For example, Canada’s earthquake hazard maps suggest there are two widely separated seismically active areas: one in Ontario, Québec and New Brunswick, and the other in British Columbia. But each location will suffer different types of damage and losses after a large earthquake.

These maps give the erroneous impression that the earthquake risk applies to everyone equally. My preliminary research shows distinct geological, political, economic and emergency management contexts between Eastern Canada and Western Canada.

For example, those in Eastern Canada are very vulnerable to seismic hazards: The soft soils in the Charlevoix-Kamouraska seismic zone amplify ground motion and the heritage housing cannot withstand shaking. There’s also low participation in earthquake preparedness exercises.

According to a 2017 report by Swiss Re, 65 per cent of home owners in Vancouver and Victoria have purchased residential property earthquake insurance. In contrast, in the Charlevoix–Kamouraska seismic zone, only two per cent of home owners in Québec City and five per cent in metropolitan Montréal have residential property earthquake insurance.

The ultimate goal of the earthquake early warning system is to ensure that those most at risk — the disabled, elderly, very young, caregivers and those living in remote rural areas — have practical knowledge of what to do — and what not to do — during an earthquake.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Shona L.van Zijll de Jong, Queen's University, Ontario.

Read more:
Why some earthquakes are so deadly

Too little, too late? The devastating consequences of natural disasters must inform building codes

Shona L.van Zijll de Jong receives funding from Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary

Strongest earthquake in 140 years rattles Croatia's capital, leaves at least 1 dead

Renee Duff, AccuWeather•March 22, 2020

The star marks the epicenter of a strong earthquake that rattled Croatia on Sunday morning, local time. (USGS)

A strong earthquake rattled Zagreb on Sunday morning, local time, killing at least one person and littering the streets with debris.

The temblor, which struck 5.7 miles (9.2 km) to the north of Zagreb and had a depth of 6.2 miles (10 km), was rated a magnitude 5.4, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

There has been at least one strong aftershock thus far with a magnitude of 4.6.

Zagreb hit by 5.3 magnitude earthquake ~30 minutes ago just as full lockdown started. Now everyone's outside grouped in front of their buildings. This won't help. pic.twitter.com/QPzAIqUSkM
— Filip Radelic (@fichek) March 22, 2020

A teenage boy has reportedly died after a roof collapse in Zagreb.

"We received a report of the collapse of the building at Djordjiceva 13. An ambulance team took to the field and found a seriously injured child who showed no signs of life," said Zarko Rasic, director of the Zagreb Institute of Emergency Medicine, via a local news outlet. The boy's death was confirmed at a nearby hospital.

People across the capital shared images on Twitter of debris from damaged buildings littering the streets. Vehicles were also seen nearly completely crumpled.

The historic Zagreb Cathedral also suffered damage, with the top of one of the spires being broken off. The cathedral was severely damaged in 1880 when a significant earthquake shook the city.

Zagreb Cathedral tower is damaged pic.twitter.com/Pazq7ghNOp
— Ankica Zovko (@anacasey17) March 22, 2020



"It felt like a train was coming through my apartment, in all my time in the city I have never felt anything like that before," a resident told The Dubrovnik Times.

Electricity has been cut in parts of the capital, the news agency reported.

All occupants at Zagreb's airport were evacuated from the building after the earthquake. No infrastructure or runway damage was found and the airport is now operating on a normal schedule.

Prior to the earthquake, a lockdown was put in place in Zagreb and elsewhere across Croatia to combat the spread of coronavirus.

"Now everyone's outside grouped in front of their buildings. This won't help," wrote one person on Twitter after the earthquake struck.

"This was the strongest earthquake in Zagreb in the last 140 years, but there is no need to panic and go to gas stations in large numbers," government officials stated on Twitter. "Regardless of the situation, we emphasize once again the importance of keeping a distance and following the instructions to combat #COVID ー 19!"



For cleanup and recovery efforts in the coming days, AccuWeather meteorologists expect a storm to move into the area with snow by Tuesday.

#Zagreb earthquake pic.twitter.com/vLaDbaAaNz
— Dante Buu (@DanteBuu) March 22, 2020

Ovo je jezivo u Zagrebu sa zemljotresom sta se desilo. Usred sranja sa koronom. #zagreb #zemljotres pic.twitter.com/qp9mapMpbV
(This is creepy in Zagreb with the earthquake what happened. In the middle of shit with a coronavirus)
— Sale (@SaleVieDub) March 22, 2020



Croatia's Zagreb rocked by powerful earthquake

Magnitude 5.3 quake wrecks buildings and causes fires as officials urge people in the streets to keep social distancing.

A destroyed car in Zagreb, Croatia is seen following the earthquake [Darko Bandic/AP Photo]

A powerful earthquake has struck north of Croatia's capital, Zagreb, damaging buildings, burying vehicles in rubble and causing several fires.

As firefighting and rescue operations were ongoing at several locations across Zagreb on Sunday, news outlets reported that a 15-year-old was in critical condition and others were injured.

More:

Major earthquake strikes in Caribbean between Jamaica and Cuba

Turkey 'seriously' preparing for possible Istanbul earthquake

The Take: Haiti's unnatural disasters

GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences said the quake, which was felt across the Western Balkans, struck at a depth of 10km (six miles). It downgraded the magnitude to 5.3 from an initial reading of 6.0.

The quake struck at a depth of 10km and was felt across the Western Balkans [Antonio Bronic/Reuters]

"It lasted over 10 seconds. By far the strongest I have ever felt," one witness said, adding that it was followed by several aftershocks.

Croatia's Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic issued an appeal on Twitter for people in the streets to keep a social distance from each other as the country struggles to contain the spread of the coronavirus. So far, Croatia has confirmed 206 cases of the virus and one death.

In Zagreb, people fled apartments and took to the streets while parts of the capital experienced electricity cuts. A church bell tower was damaged and some buildings collapsed, Reuters news agency reported.

Ines Ivancic, a seismologist at Croatia's government institute for seismology, said the tremor was strong but the immediate damage could not be assessed. She added that the internet was down in some areas.

The US Geological Survey said the quake measured 5.4, while the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) also reported a 5.3 magnitude, followed by another 5.1 magnitude earthquake.

The earyhquake damaged buildings, burried vehicles in rubble and caused several fires [Filip Horvat/AP Photo]

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

22/3/2020


Strong quake shakes Croatia, damaging buildings in capital

 By DARKO BANDIC, Associated Press 


People walk past a damaged house after an earthquake in Zagreb, Croatia, Sunday, March 22, 2020. A strong earthquake shook Croatia and its capital on Sunday, causing widespread damage and panic.(AP Photo/Filip Horvat)1/14 SLIDES © Provided by Associated Press
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/strong-quake-shakes-croatia-damaging-buildings-in-capital/ar-BB11wAHa#image=BB11wAHa_1|5


ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — A strong earthquake shook Croatia and its capital on Sunday, causing widespread damage and panic. A 15-year-old was reported in critical condition and others were injured, news outlets reported.

The European seismological agency, EMSC, said the earthquake measured 5.3 and struck a wide area north of the capital, Zagreb, at 6:23 a.m. (0523 GMT) Sunday. The epicenter was 7 kilometers (4 miles) north of Zagreb at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles). 

Many buildings in Zagreb cracked and walls and rooftops were damaged. Downtown streets were littered with debris. Concrete slabs fell on cars and chimneys landed in front of entrances.

Photographs from the scene show mothers dressed in nightgowns hugging their newborn babies in a parking lot as they evacuated a maternity hospital amid freezing temperatures.

Zagreb's iconic cathedral was also damaged with the top of one of its two spires collapsing. The cathedral was rebuilt after it toppled in the 1880 earthquake.

Power was cut as people ran out of their homes. Several fires were also reported. At least two other tremors were recorded later. Residents shared photos of belongings falling off shelves, broken bottles and glass inside homes. 

Officials first said a 15-year-old was killed, but doctors later said that she is in critical condition and that they are fighting for her life. They gave no immediate details on the extent of other injuries. 

The earthquake struck amid a partial lockdown of the capital because of the spread of the coronavirus. People were told to avoid public areas, such as parks and public squares, but had little choice as they fled their residences.


Up to five people are allowed to be together while keeping distance.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said earthquake was the biggest in Zagreb in the last 140 years.

He urged the citizens to remain calm and stay outside their homes in the central parts of Zagreb, which sustained the most damage.

“We have two parallel crisis that contradict each other,” Plenkovic said after an emergency meeting of Croatia's top officials.

Croatia's army and all emergency services will start clearing the streets as soon as possible, while assessment will start of the damage at the same time.

"We will try to clear the streets as soon as possible," he said. “Stay outside your homes and keep distance.”

Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said the situation was complicated by the restrictive virus-related measures in place.

"There are rules for when there is an earthquake, but when there is an earthquake at the same time when there is a global pandemic, then it's a much more complex situation." Bozinovic told the state HINA news agency.
__


Associated Press writers Dusan Stojanovic and Jovana Gec contributed to this report

.

UPDATE: USGS says earthquake near Carson was a 4.5; sheriff says only minor damage reported
Sam Gross, Reno Gazette Journal 
Update, 7:46 p.m. 3/21/2020

Sheriff Ken Furlong said the only damage from a magnitude 4.5 earthquake on the outskirts of Carson City Friday evening appears to be minor. 
Some damage to items on shelves inside stores has been reported and gas to one building was shut off as a precaution.

Update, 7:40 p.m. 

The 4.5 magnitude quake that struck near Carson City on Friday has been pinpointed to near the Indian Hills, a rocky outcrop on the southern edge of Nevada's Capitol, according Ken Smith, seismic network manager for the University of Nevada, Reno's Nevada Seismological Lab. 

It's a frequent place for earthquakes to strike. 

"As a matter of fact, we've been having earthquakes in this location on and off for several years," Smith said. "It appears this may be part of that." 

Aftershocks have continued to rattle off following the 4.5 Friday evening temblor. So far, Smith has counted 10-15 aftershocks, and that figure will likely grow. 

None of those aftershocks have risen above a magnitude 2.5 so far, low enough energy that it would be difficult to feel. 

Right now, Smith is working to determine exactly which fault the temblor occurred on. The Carson City area — and really the entire eastern edge of the Sierra — is a patchwork of faults. 

It's not yet clear if Friday's earthquake is related to the nearby Genoa Fault, with runs along the eastern foot of the mountains that separate Carson City and Lake Tahoe.

That fault is one of the largest in the region. The last time it ruptured was about 600 years ago, Smith said — a relatively short time ago.

"We don't want an earthquake along a major fault here," he said.

Nevada averages about one 5.0 magnitude earthquake a year. The state is considered the third-most seismically active state in the nation.
Scientists record about 12,000 to 15,000 earthquakes a year here, a smaller number than what actually occur, Smith said. 

"There's always the possibility of having another event follow something like this, the background probabilities are very low," Smith said. "But there's a slight increase in probability (of a larger earthquake), just based off statistics." 

Friday's 4.5 magnitude quake that hit Nevada's capital is notably smaller than the one that hit Utah's capital, Salt Lake City, on Wednesday. 

Utah's quake was a 5.7, over a full magnitude stronger than the one in Carson City today. 

Update, 7:16 p.m.

The USGS has updated the magnitude of the earthquake to 4.5. So far, just shy of 2,200 people have reported feeling it. 

Original story 

The United States Geological Survey is reporting a 4.5 magnitude earthquake in Indian Hills, a few miles away from Carson City. So far, nearly 2,200 people have reported feeling the quake

Graham Kent, director of the Nevada Seismological Laboratory at the University of Nevada, said his team is working to verify the quake and more precisely pinpoint the depth and location. 

Kent said people in the area need to be prepared for potential aftershocks. 

There's also the possibility this could have been a foreshock, he added, but the odds are low. Worldwide, quakes of this magnitude are foreshocks to larger temblors about 5 percent of the time. 

Here, in our seismic zone — known as the Walker Lane — there's evidence that the percentage is slightly higher. 

"The likelihood is still low, but relative to just a normal day, it's much (more likely) to have a large earthquake now," Kent said, adding that the odds of a larger quake happening will stay elevated for several weeks. 

Several other famous earthquakes in the region have come in pairs. This includes the recent strong earthquake in Ridgecrest, California last year. 

In that instance, the primary 7.1 magnitude earthquake was proceeded by a 6.4 magnitude foreshock. 

The earthquake was originally reported to be a 5.0 but was downgraded shortly thereafter to 4.5

This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: UPDATE: USGS says earthquake near Carson was a 4.5; sheriff says only minor damage reported


QUAKEBOT REPORT

Magnitude 3.2 earthquake hits Carson City, Nev.

The location and shaking intensity of a magnitude 3.2 earthquake Saturday evening in Carson City, Nev.

(Los Angeles Times)

By QUAKEBOT

MARCH 21, 2020

9:14 PM

A magnitude 3.2 earthquake was reported Saturday at 7:53 p.m. Pacific time in Carson City, Nev., according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The earthquake occurred 12 miles from Gardnerville Ranchos, Nev., 15 miles from South Lake Tahoe, Calif., 18 miles from Reno, Nev., and 24 miles from Truckee, Calif.

In the last 10 days, there has been one earthquake of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby.

An average of 234 earthquakes with magnitudes 3.0 to 4.0 occur per year in California and Nevada, according to a recent three-year data sample.

The earthquake occurred at a depth of 5.03 miles. Did you feel this earthquake? Consider reporting what you felt to the USGS.

Even if you didn’t feel this small earthquake, you never know when the Big One is going to strike. Ready yourself by following our five-step earthquake preparedness guide and building your own emergency kit.

This story was automatically generated by Quakebot, a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the USGS. A Times editor reviewed the post before it was published. If you’re interested in learning more about the system, visit our list of frequently asked questions.

 CARSON CITY, Nev. (CBS Sacramento) — A 4.5 magnitude earthquake was reported in Indian Hills, just southeast of Carson City, Nevada at 6:33 p.m. Friday.

The quake had a depth of slightly more than 5 miles and residents in Sacramento and Stockton reported feeling it.

Minor damage was reported, according to the Carson City sheriff, who spoke to the Reno Gazette-Journal Friday night. Gas to one building was shut off as a precaution, according to the paper.

Did anyone else feel that earthquake? USGS reports a moderate 5.0 earthquake located 3.1 miles east of Indian Hills, Nevada. We felt it at the office for a second. Here is a link to the USGS site. https://t.co/Z3M9OV9H0r #CAwx

— NWS Sacramento (@NWSSacramento) March 21, 2020

Ken Smith, a manager at the Nevada Seismology Lab, said the region was known to be active and has been struck by several quake swarms.

“The earthquake is in an area that has experienced earthquake swarm behavior, on-and-off, for several years,” he said. “There have been about two dozen ongoing small aftershocks.”

UPDATE: USGS says earthquake near Carson was a 4.5; sheriff says only minor damage reported

Sam Gross, Reno Gazette Journal
Update, 7:46 p.m. 21/3/2020

Sheriff Ken Furlong said the only damage from a magnitude 4.5 earthquake on the outskirts of Carson City Friday evening appears to be minor.

Some damage to items on shelves inside stores has been reported and gas to one building was shut off as a precaution.

The 4.5 magnitude quake that struck near Carson City on Friday has been pinpointed to near the Indian Hills, a rocky outcrop on the southern edge of Nevada's Capitol, according Ken Smith, seismic network manager for the University of Nevada, Reno's Nevada Seismological Lab.

It's a frequent place for earthquakes to strike.

"As a matter of fact, we've been having earthquakes in this location on and off for several years," Smith said. "It appears this may be part of that."

Aftershocks have continued to rattle off following the 4.5 Friday evening temblor. So far, Smith has counted 10-15 aftershocks, and that figure will likely grow.

None of those aftershocks have risen above a magnitude 2.5 so far, low enough energy that it would be difficult to feel.

Right now, Smith is working to determine exactly which fault the temblor occurred on. The Carson City area — and really the entire eastern edge of the Sierra — is a patchwork of faults.

It's not yet clear if Friday's earthquake is related to the nearby Genoa Fault, with runs along the eastern foot of the mountains that separate Carson City and Lake Tahoe.

That fault is one of the largest in the region. The last time it ruptured was about 600 years ago, Smith said — a relatively short time ago.

"We don't want an earthquake along a major fault here," he said.

Nevada averages about one 5.0 magnitude earthquake a year. The state is considered the third-most seismically active state in the nation.

Scientists record about 12,000 to 15,000 earthquakes a year here, a smaller number than what actually occur, Smith said.

"There's always the possibility of having another event follow something like this, the background probabilities are very low," Smith said. "But there's a slight increase in probability (of a larger earthquake), just based off statistics."

Friday's 4.5 magnitude quake that hit Nevada's capital is notably smaller than the one that hit Utah's capital, Salt Lake City, on Wednesday.

Utah's quake was a 5.7, over a full magnitude stronger than the one in Carson City today.

Update, 7:16 p.m.

The USGS has updated the magnitude of the earthquake to 4.5. So far, just shy of 2,200 people have reported feeling it.

Original story

The United States Geological Survey is reporting a 4.5 magnitude earthquake in Indian Hills, a few miles away from Carson City. So far, nearly 2,200 people have reported feeling the quake

Graham Kent, director of the Nevada Seismological Laboratory at the University of Nevada, said his team is working to verify the quake and more precisely pinpoint the depth and location.

Kent said people in the area need to be prepared for potential aftershocks.

There's also the possibility this could have been a foreshock, he added, but the odds are low. Worldwide, quakes of this magnitude are foreshocks to larger temblors about 5 percent of the time.

Here, in our seismic zone — known as the Walker Lane — there's evidence that the percentage is slightly higher.

"The likelihood is still low, but relative to just a normal day, it's much (more likely) to have a large earthquake now," Kent said, adding that the odds of a larger quake happening will stay elevated for several weeks.

Several other famous earthquakes in the region have come in pairs. This includes the recent strong earthquake in Ridgecrest, California last year.

In that instance, the primary 7.1 magnitude earthquake was proceeded by a 6.4 magnitude foreshock.

The earthquake was originally reported to be a 5.0 but was downgraded shortly thereafter to 4.5

This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: UPDATE: USGS says earthquake near Carson was a 4.5; sheriff says only minor damage reported

 

Lighting a new way to predict earthquakes

New laboratory earthquake model links real contact area to earthquake dynamics, opening a new pathway for earthquake prediction and early warning systems

University of Southern California

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

Researchers have developed a laboratory earthquake model that connects the microscopic real contact area between fault surfaces to the possibility of earthquake occurrences. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, this breakthrough demonstrates the connection between microscopic friction and earthquakes, offering new insights into earthquake mechanics and potential prediction.

“We’ve essentially opened a window into the heart of earthquake mechanics,” said Sylvain Barbot, associate professor of earth sciences at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and principal investigator of the study. “By watching how the real contact area between fault surfaces evolves during the earthquake cycle, we can now explain both the slow buildup of stress in faults and the rapid rupture that follows. Down the road, this could lead to new approaches for monitoring and predicting earthquake nucleation at early stages.”

For decades, scientists have relied on empirical “rate-and-state” friction laws to model earthquakes — mathematical descriptions that work well but don’t explain the underlying physical mechanisms. “Our model reveals what’s actually happening at the fault interface during an earthquake cycle.”

Barbot says the discovery is a deceptively simple concept: “When two rough surfaces slide against each other, they only make contact at minuscule, isolated junctions covering a fraction of the total surface area.” This “real area of contact” — invisible to the eye but measurable through optical techniques — turns out to be the key state variable that controls earthquake behavior.

Laboratory earthquakes: Lighting earthquakes in real time

The study utilizes transparent acrylic materials that allowed the researchers to literally watch earthquake ruptures unfold in real time. Using high-speed cameras and optical measurements, the team tracked how LED light transmission changed as contact junctions formed, grew and were destroyed during laboratory earthquakes.

“We can literally watch the contact area evolve as ruptures propagate,” Barbot said. “During fast ruptures, we see approximately 30% of the contact area disappear in milliseconds — a dramatic weakening that drives the earthquake.”

The laboratory results revealed a previously hidden relationship: The empirical “state variable” used in standard earthquake models for decades represents the real area of contact between fault surfaces. This discovery provides the first physical interpretation of a mathematical concept that has been central to earthquake science since the 1970s.

From simulation to prediction

The researchers analyzed 26 different simulated earthquake scenarios and found that the relationship between rupture speed and fracture energy follows the predictions of linear elastic fracture mechanics. The team’s computer simulations successfully reproduced both slow and fast laboratory earthquakes, matching not only the rupture speeds and stress drops but also the amount of light transmitted across the fault interface during ruptures.

As contact areas change during the earthquake cycle, they affect multiple measurable properties including electrical conductivity, hydraulic permeability and seismic wave transmission. Since the real area of contact affects multiple physical properties of fault zones, continuous monitoring of these proxies during earthquake cycles could provide new insights into fault behavior.

The implications extend far beyond academic understanding and laboratory experiments. The research suggests that monitoring the physical state of fault contacts could provide new tools for earthquake short-term systems and potentially for reliable earthquake prediction using the electric conductivity of the fault.

“If we can monitor these properties continuously on natural faults, we might detect the early stages of earthquake nucleation,” Barbot explained. “This could lead to new approaches for monitoring earthquake nucleation at early stages, well before seismic waves are radiated.”

Looking ahead

The researchers plan to scale up their findings outside controlled laboratory conditions. Barbot explained: The study’s model provides the physical foundation for understanding how fault properties evolve during seismic cycles.

“Imagine a future where we can detect subtle changes in fault conditions before an earthquake strikes,” Barbot said. “That’s the long-term potential of this work.”

About the study: In addition to Barbot, Baoning Wu, formerly at USC and now at the University of California, San Diego, authored the study.

The study was supported by National Science Foundation award number EAR-1848192 and the Statewide California Earthquake Center proposal number 22105.

###

---

Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2410496122 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Evolution of the real area of contact during laboratory earthquakes

Article Publication Date

6-Jun-2025