Update: Earthquakes Felt Throughout Mother Lode

Update at 6 p.m.: It appears California dodged a bullet from Wednesday morning’s earthquakes that produced no significant damage or injuries. The head of the University of Nevada’s Seismological Laboratory says that the trio of strong earthquakes that struck near rural Hawthorne, about 100 miles southeast of Lake Tahoe, were big enough to cause as much as $1 billion damage. However, he clarified that would only have happened if the quakes had been centered beneath a big city.

Update at 7:45am: More information is known about the early morning earthquakes that shook the Sierra Nevada region.

The US Geological Survey reports a 5.7 magnitude quake occurred at 12:18am with the epicenter southwest of Hawthorne, Nevada. At 12:22am a second 5.7 magnitude quake occurred near Hawthorne. Several aftershocks soon followed. A 4.0 magnitude quake occurred near Hawthorne at 12:26am, It was followed by a 3.8 magnitude near Bridgeport at 12:29am. Back closer to Hawthorne, a 2.7 magnitude occurred at 12:36am, a 2.8 at 12:39am, a 2.5 at 12:41am, a 3.5 at 12:48am, a 3.2 at 1:08am, a 2.7 at 1:11am, and then another large 5.5 at 1:13am.

The trend of aftershocks continued into the early morning hours with quakes averaging anywhere between 2.8 to 4.1. The Associated Press indicates there have been no immediate reports of significant damage or injuries. The quakes were felt throughout rural areas like the Mother Lode, and also larger cities such as Sacramento and Frenso.

Update at 1am: The US Geological survey now reports that there were multiple earthquakes felt early this morning. A roughly 5.7 magnitude earthquake southwest of Hawthorne at 12:18am was followed four minutes later by a 5.7 magnitude quake in the same general area. There was also a 3.8 magnitude quake that followed northeast of Bridgeport. In February of this year other earthquakes were felt from that area as reported here.

Original story posted at 12:44am: A large earthquake, with aftershocks, was felt in the Mother Lode early this morning, The US Geological Survey reports that the 5.7 magnitude quake’s epicenter was southwest of Hawthorne, Nevada, near the California/Nevada border. It was felt throughout rural areas of the Sierra Nevada, and also in larger cities like Sacramento and Fresno. It is not immediately known if there was any significant damage that resulted from the quake.