The Reno earthquakes of 2008, also known as the "Mogul-Somersett earthquake sequence", occurred in or near the western

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

, suburbs of

Mogul Mogul may refer to: History *Mughal Empire, or any member of its ruling dynasty Persons * Magnate ** Mogul, Secret Service codename for President Trump ** Business magnate, a prominent person in a particular industry **Media mogul, a person who ...

and Somersett. The

earthquake swarm In seismology, an earthquake swarm is a sequence of seismic events occurring in a local area within a relatively short period. The time span used to define a swarm varies, but may be days, months, or years. Such an energy release is different f ...

began in February 2008, but the first significant quake of the series occurred on April 15, 2008, registering a 3.6 magnitude. On April 24, 2008, two quakes in the same area registered 4.1 and 4.2. On April 25, 2008, the quake of largest magnitude occurred, registering 4.7 on the

Richter scale The Richter scale —also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale—is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Francis Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 ...

and causing damage in the immediate area around the

epicenter The epicenter, epicentre () or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Surface damage Before the instrumental pe ...

, including destroying of a wooden flume supplying water from the Highland Ditch, also known as the Highland Ditch flume. The flume carried up to a day from the Highland Ditch to Reno's Chalk Bluff Water Treatment Facility and another to area irrigation users. In addition to these significant quakes, hundreds of smaller events have also occurred in the same area. This swarm is significant because no known dominant

fault line In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...

has been responsible for the earthquake swarm occurring in the region. It is also highly unusual because the quakes have, for the most part, been limited to a three-mile area. The

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

(USGS) estimates that over 620 earthquakes have occurred in the general three mile vicinity since the swarm has been monitored. Seismologists with the USGS as well as the Nevada Seismological Laboratory expressed concern that the increasing magnitude of the felt quakes may indicate that a larger earthquake was imminent. As yet, they have not identified the particular tectonics involved with these earthquakes. However, they have stated categorically that volcanic activity is not involved. The last strong earthquake (M6.1) in the Reno area in occurred on April 24, 1914, and the state's most powerful quake to date was the M7.4

1915 Pleasant Valley earthquake The 1915 Pleasant Valley earthquake occurred at in north-central Nevada. With a moment magnitude of 6.8, a surface wave magnitude of 7.7, and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''), it was the strongest earthquake ever recorded in the s ...

south of Winnemucca.

References

Additional reading

External links

Nevada Earthquake Information
– United States Geological Survey

– Nevada Seismological Laboratory
Pumps to feed water plant
– Nevada Division of Environmental Protection News
Exceptional Ground Motions from the April 26, 2008 Mogul Nevada Mw 5.0 Earthquake Recorded by PASSCAL Rapid Array Mobilization Program (RAMP) Stations
–

IRIS Consortium IRIS (Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology) is a university research consortium dedicated to exploring the Earth's interior through the collection and distribution of seismographic data. IRIS programs contribute to scholarly research, ...

{{Earthquakes in the United States Reno earthquakes Reno earthquakes Earthquakes in Nevada Reno earthquakes Reno earthquakes Earthquake clusters, swarms, and sequences