What were the biggest earthquakes in Nevada history?

While Nevadans typically feel earthquakes from California, some earthquakes have originated from the Silver State.

Here are the highest magnitude earthquakes in Nevada’s history (from oldest to most recent), according to the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology:

Oct. 2, 1915 (7.3 magnitude)

The largest earthquake in Nevada’s history occurred about 50 miles south of Winnemucca, leaving a scarp along the Tobin Range over 35 miles long.

The event followed two other quakes in Northern Nevada in 1914: 6.0 and 6.4 quakes in February and April, respectively.

Ranches in the surrounding area were the most badly damaged structures, leading to partial and total collapses of many barns and homes.

The earthquake was of major scientific significance at the time. The quake occurred during the early days of seismology, and confirmed the theory that movement along faults near the Sierra Nevada range were responsible for the valley and mountain landscape of the Basin and Range Province where Nevada lies, according to the bureau.

Dec. 2, 1932 (7.1)

A quake that hit east of Mina, a town about 33 miles south of Hawthorne, is considered one of the largest earthquakes originating in the United States, according to the Seismological Society of America.

The tremblor could be felt in California, Oregon, Idaho, Utah and Arizona, but could be detected in an area spanning almost 1 million square miles. Thousands of aftershocks followed until January 1934.

No loss of life was reported, and most property damage was minor — only broken windows and dishes, the Review-Journal reported.

“Chandeliers in the state capitol at Sacramento swung to and fro for five minutes after the shock,” the RJ reported. “Buildings trembled with such force that occupants of hotels and theaters fled into the streets.”

Jan. 30, 1934 (6.1)

Mina was hit by a quake again that broke windows, stopped clocks and knocked an abandoned garage to the ground, according to the RJ. No injuries or deaths were reported.

July 6, 1954 (6.2)

Fallon was shaken by an earthquake, resulting in 12 people injured — eight of whom were sailors stationed at Naval Air Station Fallon. The quake would proceed two others in the same year.

One sailor was seriously injured with a fractured leg after a metal locker fell on his bunk during the main jolt around 4 a.m.

Cracked walls and fallen chimneys were the most commonly reported damage, though farmers reported seeing “water from near-the-surface underground springs spirited up from the ground like geysers” along with their farmland buckling, according to RJ reports.

The Truckee-Carson irrigation system suffered $200,000 dollars worth of damage, amounting to $2.2 million in today’s dollars.

Aug. 24, 1954 (6.8)

A quake that originated near Fallon was also felt in California, Oregon, Utah and Idaho.

In nearby Lovelock, bricks from the mercantile fell onto the street, and the building had to be torn down. Several buildings cracked from the quake. The only injury reported was a woman who fell and sprained her ankle while running out of a Lovelock movie theater.

Dec. 16, 1954 (7.1)

The final quake of 1954 hit Northern Nevada two weeks before the new year. A rolling tremor, more severe than the July 6 event, caused some ornamental wall moldings in the Assembly Chamber of Nevada’s State Capitol Building to fall.

Aftershocks lasted about two hours. No major damage was reported.

One Fallon resident said the quake dumped bags of seed at a feed store he worked at to the ground. When he ran outside the building, “the ice on the ground was a-squeakin’ and a squawkin’,” the man told the RJ.

The quake’s effects even reached Las Vegas, where a deputy told the RJ that he thought for a moment “that he was drunk.”

Feb. 21, 2008 (6.0)

Wells, 50 miles east of Elko, was hit by the largest earthquake in the state since 1954, leading Gov. Jim Gibbons to declare a state of emergency for the small desert town.

Many historic homes were destroyed, though no deaths or injuries were reported. Schools and homes remained closed into the weekend, although Donna’s Ranch, one of the town’s two brothels, opened two days after the quake.

“It looked like a tornado came through here on the inside and turned things upside down,” brothel bartender Donna Bowers told the RJ. “It seemed to shake forever. All you could hear was the girls screaming.”

Thirty-five aftershocks were recorded.

May 15, 2020 (6.5)

U.S. Highway 95 near Tonopah experienced road damage after an earthquake struck in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A 9-foot-wide-by-40-foot-long pavement patch had to be added to one portion of the highway, while other portions saw large cracks several inches wide in Esmeralda County.

Broken windows, stress cracks, and groceries falling off shelves was the extent of damage reported. More than 250 aftershocks measuring at least 2.5 magnitude shook Tonopah in the 24 hours following the major quake.

Contact Taylor Lane at tlane@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tmflane on Twitter.