2020 Nevada Earthquake
Event Date :
05-15-2020
Location :
Nevada
Report Date :
03-16-2021
Event Category:
Earthquake
EQ Magnitude :
6.5
Report Number:
GEER-071
DOI:
doi:10.18118/G67H4F
Event Latitude:
38.15229
Event Longitude:
-117.93675
Team:
| Team Lead: Ramin Motamed (University of Nevada, Reno) |
| Co-Lead: Marc Ryan (Slate Geotechnical Consultants, Inc.) |
| Gregory Lambeth (Wood) |
| Joseph Toth (Wood) |
| Maggie Parks (ENGEO) |
| F. Estéfan T. Garcia (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) |
| Patrick C. Bassal (University of California, Davis) |
| Jonathan Pease (Reno Tahoe Geo Associates) |
Contributors:
Richard Koehler (University of Nevada, Reno and Nevada Bureau of Mine and Geology)
Summary:
The moment magnitude (MW) 6.5 Monte Cristo Range earthquake occurred 56 km west of Tonopah, Nevada on May 15th, 2020, at about 4AM PDT. The Monte Cristo Range, where the earthquake epicenter was situated, is located in western Nevada and lies along the east of Highway US 95, an important highway connecting northern and southern Nevada. The earthquake epicenter was located in the Walker Lane, a seismically active zone along the California-Nevada border. The reported faulting mechanism was strike-slip in shallow crust. This report summarizes the preliminary findings by the NSF-sponsored Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance (GEER) team which visited the Monte Cristo Range area. The GEER team was mobilized to the epicentral region 3 weeks after the main event, and the area of interest was decided based on findings by other advance teams from United States Geological Survey (USGS), Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology and the University of Nevada – Reno (NBMG/UNR) and California Geological Survey (CGS) which had pointed out some interesting ground failure patterns in the Columbus Marsh area west of US 95.
File Upload :
| File Title | File Version | File Date | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Report | 1 | 03-16-2021 |
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The work of the GEER Association, in general, is based upon work supported in part by the National Science Foundation through the Geotechnical Engineering Program under Grant No. CMMI-1266418. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF. The GEER Association is made possible by the vision and support of the NSF Geotechnical Engineering Program Directors: Dr. Richard Fragaszy and the late Dr. Cliff Astill. GEER members also donate their time, talent, and resources to collect time-sensitive field observations of the effects of extreme events.
