WELLS, Nev. — No one was seriously injured when a powerful earthquake shook this rural town Thursday.
The quake, which had an estimated magnitude of 6.0, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, struck at 6:16 a.m. and was centered in a sparsely populated area 11 miles southeast of Wells near the Nevada-Utah line.
The temblor was felt from northern Idaho and Utah to Southern California, and more than a dozen aftershocks were reported, officials said.
“Definitely a lot of people felt this, and if they were sleeping, they were awoken,” said USGS geophysicist Carrieann Bedwell.
The most serious damage was reported in Wells’ largely unoccupied historic district, where an estimated 20 to 25 buildings have been “heavily damaged,” Elko County sheriff’s Sgt. Kevin McKinney said.
