Magnitude 6.0 quake shakes corner of Nevada

SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck near the town of Wells in northeastern Nevada at dawn on Thursday, shaking residents in their beds and causing some damage, the U.S. Geological Survey and residents reported. There were no...

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A few pics of Wells Nevada Earthquake this morning + Story

Inspection crews with state agencies began examining bridges, dams and roads less than an hour after the earthquake struck shortly after 7 a.m.Seismologists with the University of Reno-Nevada are traveling to Wells to inspect the epicenter.
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I grabbed these stories off the Digg.com site because the earthquake happened where my niece lives. I tried phoning her as soon as I heard the news, but only got her voice mail. She lives on a ranch so she was probably out tending to chores on the property, taking care of the animals and such. So I called her Dad, my brother, and caught him driving down the highway in Virginia in his big rig. He said that my niece called her Mom this morning and said that she and her family were fine. I don't know if her place suffered any damage, but the pictures I've seen on a few websites show a lot of damage to the downtown district of Wells.

The Reno Gazette-Journal website has quite a few photos that show the damage. It's going to be quite a while before the city gets back to "normal".

I will try to update later after I've talked to my niece, or if I hear any any additional information.


Update ~ 2:15pm

The latest from the Reno Gazette-Journal is that there were no major injuries from the quake, and that 20 to 25 buildings in the historical downtown district suffered major damage. A quote from one of the articles I read says: Three injuries were reported, but they were “not very serious — a broken arm, some head lacerations, some difficulty breathing.” I still haven't talked to my niece, but will try calling her again this evening.

Update ~ 5:00pm

I still haven't been able to get a hold of my niece. I'm wondering if the phones are out or something. I don't have her cell number, but I have to wonder if even having her cell number would do me any good. One of the articles says that cell service is "spotty" right now. The latest news I've seen says that the town of Wells is closed until further notice. I read that they have closed off the offramps from I80 and I guess blocking other access roads into town. The only people allowed to go into town are residents. They've had at least 14 aftershocks so far. Utilities are still down, but crews are working hard to get electricity and water going again. Police are doing house to house checks to make sure no one else is injured or trapped.

Update ~ 8:30pm

I finally got a hold of my niece... She and her family are doing okay. They had some damage to their home, they're going to have to replace the chimney, and a lot of things were broken inside the house but basically they survived the main quake and all the aftershocks fairly well. They said it has hardly stopped shaking there with all the aftershocks. The animals on their ranch seem to have come through just fine too. Whew.. I can stop worrying now.