Don't shake: Even in Nevada, earthquake preparedness is a priority

Saturday, October 19, 2024 | 2 am

An alarm went off at 10:17 a.m. Thursday on the UNLV campus, with alerts appearing on nearby cellphones reading, “Drop, cover, and hold!”

In the Flora Dungan Humanities Building, students start typing on their laptops with headphones on, faculty members passing through the building, and even a university security officer all start to hide, then wait for about 60 seconds before resuming their day. .

It was all part of the Great Nevada ShakeOut, an annual exercise to educate people about earthquake safety and training in the event of a devastating earthquake in Las Vegas.

Local experts stress the need for residents to remain prepared.

“At some point in the future of this great city, there's going to be an earthquake that causes some damage and maybe knocks out power to a certain part of the city, or maybe knocks out communications, or does something,” Jesse Bonner said. Earthquake expert at the Desert Research Institute. “I can't tell you when that will happen, (but) I can only tell you that we live in a tectonically active state, and at some point in the future, it will happen and we have to be prepared.”

Nevada is the third most seismically active state in the country, after Alaska and California, according to the US Geological Survey.

Between 15 and 40 small earthquakes occur every day in Nevada, and she receives an alert for each one, said Christy Rowe, director of the Nevada Seismic Laboratory.

Many western states, including Nevada, lie on the edge of two tectonic plates: the North American plate and the Pacific plate.

According to the National Geographic Society, “Tectonic plates are huge slabs of the Earth's crust, which fit together like pieces of a puzzle. The plates are not stationary but are constantly moving over a layer of solid, molten rock called the mantle. Sometimes these plates collide, move apart, or Slide next to each other.

Rowe explained that stresses from North American and Pacific plate movements drive seismic activity in the state, aided by the bending and extension of fault lines such as the infamous San Andreas Fault, which Rowe referred to as the “highway of tectonic movement.”

Due to these movements, the Sierra Nevada mountain range is slowly moving northward into the state, and is even expanding Nevada by a few centimeters per year with each earthquake.

While the state experiences several smaller earthquakes each year, a magnitude 5 or 6 quake occurs here about once every decade, Rowe noted.

Areas of seismic activity were identified through work done at the Nevada Seismic Laboratory, a research division within UNH's College of Science that analyzes earthquakes in the state.

Nevada's central seismic belt, which extends from Dixie Valley and areas north to the vicinity of Yarrington, as well as Walker Lane along the Nevada-California border, appears to be producing the most activity, Roy said.

But that doesn't mean Las Vegas is risk-free. On October 11, the Nevada Seismological Laboratory recorded a magnitude 1.6 earthquake about 11 miles southwest of Henderson and a magnitude 0.9 earthquake 13 miles northwest of Las Vegas three days later.

Southern Nevada has a few potentially dangerous faults on either side of the Las Vegas Valley, Bonner said, such as the fault on the east side of the city toward Frenchman Mountain, the Decatur fault along Decatur Street, and the Cashman fault next to Cashman Center.

Despite ongoing seismic activity, some of the last large earthquakes in Nevada were years ago, most recently the 6.5 magnitude Monte Cristo Range earthquake in May 2020 that shook just outside of Tonopah. Bonner said he felt it even in Las Vegas. Southern Nevada could be shaken by earthquakes as far south as Southern California, Bonner said.

Seismology can sometimes be a difficult field, and Bonner explained that it's difficult to know how much damage faults can cause in Las Vegas.

“It's very possible that the faults here in this city will generate some very strong earthquakes at some point in the future, (but) probably not on the scale of what you would get if you were in California in San Andreas or even in Death Valley.” Bonner said. “However, earthquakes can happen wherever there is a fault, basically, and we already have faults in the valley, so it is very important that people are prepared for that.”

This preparedness is why Rowe wants to bring more earthquake preparedness to Nevada.

The USGS developed an earthquake early warning system called ShakeAlert that was distributed before 2021 to California, Oregon and Washington states. Although ShakeAlert does not predict earthquakes, it gives users a notification on their cell phones seconds before the tremor starts so they have more time to take cover.

The Nevada Seismological Laboratory “would really like to see this program come to Nevada, and we're going to lobby hard to try to bring that to us,” Rowe said.

Data from earthquakes in Nevada have already been contributed to the California network, and Rowe hopes a version tailored to Nevada's unique geology will be brought to the state soon.

U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., announced last month that UNLV also received a $982,000 grant from the National Institutes of Standards and Technology to purchase equipment that will better analyze mineral resources and seismic risks in the West, which she said “will improve preparedness in areas vulnerable to these natural disasters.” .

Although Rowe joined the Nevada Seismological Laboratory earlier this year, she is familiar with earthquakes. She has been studying earthquakes in California for 25 years. It even lived through the 5.2 magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. That quake, whose epicenter was 10 miles northeast of Santa Cruz, California, caused an estimated $10 billion in damage, killed 63 people, injured 3,757 people, and left 12,053 people homeless. , according to the California Department. From memorization.

Rowe — who was 12 when the quake struck — remembers crawling under a desk at school to take cover in case part of her classroom collapsed. She had done this many times during her school's earthquake drills, and the training was finally paying off.

Rowe said the Great ShakeOut drill was one way to prepare in the event of a devastating earthquake in Nevada. More than 630,000 people in Nevada have registered to participate in this year's training, including 500,000 people in Clark County, the county said in an email to media.

All institutions within the Nevada System of Higher Education and the Clark County School District participated in this year's training.

“The Great ShakeOut is an important exercise to remind people around the world how to protect themselves in the event of an earthquake,” Clark County Fire Department Deputy Chief Billy Samuels, who oversees the Office of Emergency Management, said in an email. “Earthquakes can occur in Clark County.”

In the event of an earthquake, people are encouraged to stay under heavy furniture, such as a desk or table, until the shaking stops and to avoid windows that can produce shattered glass. Sometimes, the shaking can last for several minutes, so people need to be careful, Rowe said.

Falling objects can cause injury during earthquakes, so Rowe added that people need to attach shelves securely to walls and place large, heavy items on lower shelves or hang them in areas where people are unlikely to sit.

Those driving during an earthquake should stop in a clear place away from bridges, overpasses and power lines, if possible, Rowe added.

Emergency supplies, such as water, flashlights, and non-perishable food, are also a good investment for long-term preparedness in the event of an earthquake that damages local water or power supplies.

“What we hope ShakeOut means for Nevadans is thinking long-term about what can be done so you don't just jump into the office again and call it good next time,” Rowe said. “Think about allocating emergency supplies; Consider – at the municipal level – looking at the flexibility of the water supply, making sure that the pipelines that transport water to the city are robust, or that there are alternative routes (or) electricity networks. Fragility and recovery are a big component of that. There is good reason to invest a lot of energy and time trying to make those areas safer where you are exposed to the highest risks.

[email protected] / 702-948-7854 / @gracedarocha

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos