Nevada Seismological Laboratory

Press Release

http://www.seismo.unr.edu

March 15, 2008

M 2.8 Earthquake near Mogul, Nevada

Continuing Series of Earthquakes in the West Reno Area

Continuing a series of earthquakes that began on Thursday February 28, 2008 near Mogul, Nevada, in the west Reno area, a Magnitude 2.8 felt earthquake occurred on Saturday March 15, 2008, at 8:38 AM PDT. This is the second largest event of the recent Mogul earthquake sequence. The preliminary event location determined by the Nevada Seismological Laboratory is - Latitude: 39.5275N; Longitude: 119.9376 W; Depth 3.6 km (2.2 miles). This morning’s Magnitude 2.8 earthquake has been followed by number of small aftershocks.

The largest of earthquake in the recent Mogul sequence occurred at 2:07 AM PST on March 8, Magnitude 3.0. Small magnitude events have been occurring in this area since this activity began. Due to the number of seismograph stations in the Reno area, the Mogul earthquake sequence can be monitored in detail; only a small fraction of the recorded earthquakes have been felt by west Reno residents. After the Saturday March 8 Magnitude 3.0 earthquake small magnitude aftershocks continued through the following day, Sunday March 9, at a rate of about 5-10 small events per hour. The rate of earthquakes decreased on Monday March 10 through Wednesday March 12. Thereafter, the numbers of small events increased on Thursday March 13 and Friday March 14 prior to today’s Magnitude 2.8 felt event.

Following any sequence of earthquakes similar to what has been observed in the west Reno area over the past 17 days, there is a slight increase in the probability of larger magnitude events, and the persistence of this particular earthquake sequence slightly increases this probability of a significant earthquake in west Reno. However, the occurrence of additional earthquake activity in the Mogul area cannot be predicted or forecast. Nevada citizens are urged to always be prepared for strong ground shaking from earthquakes at anytime; Nevada is the third most active state for earthquake activity in the United States and large earthquakes may occur anywhere in the State. For information on earthquake preparedness visit the Nevada Seismological web site at http://www.seismo.unr.edu.

Additional links for earthquake preparedness information:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/preparedness.php U.S. Geological Survey

http://quake.usgs.gov/prepare/prepare.html U.S. Geological Survey

The data reported here has been reviewed. For more information, contact the Nevada Seismological Laboratory, (775) 784-4975. The Nevada Seismological Laboratory continues to monitor the earthquakes activity in the Mogul area.

The Nevada Seismological Laboratory is the lead agency for monitoring earthquakes in the western Great Basin, and part of the nationwide monitoring program with primary support from the U.S. Geological Survey.