Items are scattered across grocery store aisle floors in Fallon, Nev., after a magnitude 5.7 earthquake on April 13.
(Kaitlin Ritchie via Associated Press)
May 4, 2026 3 AM PT
A recent series of earthquakes in Nevada has served as a jolting reminder of the state’s seismic risk.
It started with a scary earthquake near Reno, then more unsettling shaking near Las Vegas. Neither earthquake caused significant damage, but it has gotten Nevada talking about the large geological forces that caused them.
Although California is known for its seismic activity, experts say, the danger does not stop at the state line. There are many fault systems that crisscross the California-Nevada border, and one area scientists worry about is the Lake Tahoe Basin, according to Christie Rowe, director of the Nevada Seismological Laboratory.
“There are some big faults under the lake there,” she said. “They’ve had pretty major earthquakes in the past.”
The latest sizable quake in the Silver State in recent days struck at 1:17 a.m. Friday, a magnitude 5.2 about 40 miles east of Reno. Just two days earlier, a magnitude 4.4 rumbled in the desert about 60 miles north of Sin City, where some people reported weak shaking.
The area east of Reno also endured a flurry of seismic activity earlier in April. The most powerful of that series was a magnitude 5.7 earthquake 45 miles east of the city that was powerful enough to cause moderate-to-strong shaking in the small town of Silver Springs and knock items off shelves and out of cupboards, according to media reports. There were no reports of significant injuries or damage from that quake, which hit on April 13.
The spate of quakes is a reminder that earthquakes are indeed a threat to Nevada — less profound than the seismic risk in California, for sure, but every bit as real.
A recent series of earthquakes in Nevada has served as a jolting reminder of the state’s seismic risk.
It started with a scary earthquake near Reno, then more unsettling shaking near Las Vegas. Neither earthquake caused significant damage, but it has gotten Nevada talking about the large geological forces that caused them.
Although California is known for its seismic activity, experts say, the danger does not stop at the state line. There are many fault systems that crisscross the California-Nevada border, and one area scientists worry about is the Lake Tahoe Basin, according to Christie Rowe, director of the Nevada Seismological Laboratory.
“There are some big faults under the lake there,” she said. “They’ve had pretty major earthquakes in the past.”
The latest sizable quake in the Silver State in recent days struck at 1:17 a.m. Friday, a magnitude 5.2 about 40 miles east of Reno. Just two days earlier, a magnitude 4.4 rumbled in the desert about 60 miles north of Sin City, where some people reported weak shaking.
The area east of Reno also endured a flurry of seismic activity earlier in April. The most powerful of that series was a magnitude 5.7 earthquake 45 miles east of the city that was powerful enough to cause moderate-to-strong shaking in the small town of Silver Springs and knock items off shelves and out of cupboards, according to media reports. There were no reports of significant injuries or damage from that quake, which hit on April 13.
The spate of quakes is a reminder that earthquakes are indeed a threat to Nevada — less profound than the seismic risk in California, for sure, but every bit as real.
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