Loading ...(CNN) — A strong earthquake struck the northeast corner of Nevada on Thursday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey said, damaging buildings in a small town near the epicenter.
The USGS reported the quake was a magnitude 6 and occurred at a depth of 6.2 miles below the surface. The magnitude was lowered from 6.3 about an hour after the initial report.
The USGS also recorded eight aftershocks between magnitudes 4 and 3 in the hours after the first quake, which hit at 6:16 a.m. PT.
Sherry Justus, a utility clerk who answered the phone at the Wells, Nevada, city offices Thursday said the town’s main water line had been shut down because of leaks caused by the temblor, and a propane leak was reported at the town’s Flying J truck stop.
Video footage from CNN affiliate KSL-TV in Salt Lake City, Utah, showed collapsed building fronts and bricks crushing cars in what was described as Wells’ historic district. Wells is about 10 miles from the epicenter in sparsely populated eastern Nevada. Justus said the quake struck as she was getting ready for work.
“My whole house shook like it was coming off the foundation,” she said.
Jane Kelso, who answered the phone at the Motel 6 in Wells, told The Associated Press, “We have cracks in our walls.”
Justus said city crews were out surveying damage in the town of about 1,500 people off Interstate 80 in Elko County.
Tom Turk, with the Nevada Division of Forestry, told KSL-TV that authorities had confirmed only one minor injury.
“We’ve been very fortunate,” he said.
CNN affiliates in Salt Lake City, about 150 miles from the epicenter, and Boise, Idaho, reported getting calls from residents who felt the temblor.
The USGS said it received 59 reports from people in 40 ZIP codes, or about 2 million residents, who felt the quake.
A magnitude 6 earthquake is capable of causing destruction to buildings within about 30 miles of its epicenter.
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My folks live in Southern Idaho and experienced a large push against the back of their home as a result of the magnitude 6 quake.
They reported that their deck made a modest slam against the back of their house, which faces to the southeast. They are located in a town called Jerome, which is roughly 12 miles north of Twin Falls, Idaho. My parents had felt the quake in this manner but did not feel any ground movement, just a solid slam on the deck which caused it to bump into their home early this morning around the time of the reported earthquake in Nevada.