70 Quakes Hit Eastern Sierra
- Share via
MAMMOTH LAKES — A swarm of earthquakes -- one a magnitude 5.5 -- jolted a remote, sparsely populated area along the eastern Sierra Nevada on Saturday, authorities said.
A Mono County sheriff’s dispatcher said there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from the temblors centered along the California-Nevada line about 30 miles northeast of Mammoth Lakes.
David Oppenheimer, a seismologist for the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, said most of the 70 quakes in the sequence that began shortly after midnight Friday were magnitude 2 or less.
The quakes are not surprising because the eastern Sierra has been a seismically active area. Major temblors also have rocked Mammoth Lakes and Bishop.
“For whatever reasons this fault seems to make a lot of noise,” Oppenheimer said. “It pops off every once in a while.”
The Great Basin that covers most of Nevada and Utah is pulling apart, causing the quakes, he said.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
