The 5.7-magnitude earthquake on Dec. 9 that shook Lyon County and beyond could create momentum on a letter of support for an early earthquake warning system.
The Parker Butte earthquake, as it has been renamed, occurred about 7 kilometers deep along the Wabuska Lineament between Yerington and Silver Springs. The quake didn’t just occur along a single fault line, according to Kyren Bogolub, network seismologist and co-chair of UNR’s Department of Geological Sciences and Engineering for All Committee. Bogolub gave a presentation on Jan. 16 to Lyon’s Local Emergency Planning Committee. Members are made up of county officials, first responders and nonprofit members who raise public awareness on the potential environmental disasters, chemical threats and hazards to the community and plan for mitigation.
Bogolub said the Parker Butte quake reinforces Nevada as the third most seismically active state in the nation, averaging about one M5 quake per year. The largest in its recorded history was a 7.3-magnitude in 1954.
Between Dec. 5 and Jan. 3, UNR’s Nevada Seismological Laboratory recorded 560 earthquakes
After Parker Butte, geologists and officials found a surface rupture along the southern lineament, Bogolub said. Lab specialists found cracks in the ground in Lyon County caused from the earthquake.
“The takeaway for the emergency planning committee is that we do have these kinds of hazards associated with earthquakes and collapses that can cause damage to properties,” she said.
To help community members prepare for oncoming quakes, some states are using the ShakeAlert system, an early warning system that detects, locates and estimates the size of a large earthquake, Bogolub said. The U.S. Geological System is among the best in providing these warnings to cell phone users and integrating with emergency response systems.
“Even a couple of seconds in a lot of situations is all you might get to pull a car over or stop a knife in the middle of a surgery,” she said.
But local support is needed in a letter of support to go to members of Congress. Bogolub said federal appropriations are needed to fund ShakeAlert for Nevada, with Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen and Rep. Mark Amodei having been contacted about the need for the system.
Bogolub said the lab continues recording damage from the Monte Cristo earthquake of 2020 that occurred 35 miles west of Tonopah. It was a 6.5 in magnitude, Nevada’s largest earthquake in 66 years. Nearly as great was the M6 Antelope Valley earthquake in Walker Valley in 2021.
“It was still great enough to get everyone’s attention,” Bogolub said of Monte Cristo.
