Multiple earthquakes were felt across the California, including the Bay Area and Sacramento and parts of Nevada on Thursday afternoon, with people reporting feeling the shaking hundreds of miles away, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). A magnitude 5.9 earthquake was recorded by the USGS just south of Lake Tahoe that triggered a series of aftershocks.
This is reportedly the largest of its kind in more than two and a half decades. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. However, aftershocks could be felt in frequent intervals, with citizens panicking for their lives.
Tremors Felt
The earthquake struck at 3.49 pm local time in a region about 250 miles east of San Francisco and south of Lake Tahoe. The earthquake's epicenter was four miles west-southwest of Walker, California. It was followed by a dozen aftershocks, with one with a 4.6 magnitude, the USGS said.
Minutes later, another magnitude 4.8 earthquake was reportedly recorded near Farmington in San Joaquin County, authorities said. However, that earthquake appears to have since been removed from the USGS website.
Regionally, "this would be the largest one in almost two and a half decades," according to Graham Kent, director of the University of Nevada, Reno's seismological lab. "It's 5.9 and some change — to the average person, it's a magnitude 6.0."
Several smaller earthquakes with magnitudes ranging between 3.1 and 4.2 occurred minutes apart from each other after the 5.9 magnitude earthquake in the Smith Valley area, data from the USGS show.
The California Office of Emergency Services said that there have been no preliminary reports of damage or injuries and have urged people to stay calm. "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.
On High Alert
Although the earthquake has been removed from the USGS website, risks of aftershocks remain. Also, the danger is not yet over and authorities are on high alert. US 395, a major route through the northern Sierra Nevada, had to be closed because of rock slides, the state department of transportation said.
"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. "We've already seen a pretty vigorous aftershock sequence."
People who were on the highway felt the tremors the most, with more than 20,000 reports coming into the USGS website by 6 pm local time. The National Weather Service in Sacramento tweeted that the earthquake was felt at its office which lasted about for almost a minute causing blinds and light fixtures to move.
Seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones tweeted that a magnitude 5.9 earthquake "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.
