A series of earthquakes have rocked California’s Death Valley National Park since October 9, raising concerns that a larger, more devastating quake may be imminent, SFGATE reports.
To date, at least 130 tremors have struck the national park, said USGS geophysicist Elizabeth Cochran. The strongest earthquakes were recorded on October 25, with magnitudes of 4.7 and 4.5. The earthquakes did not cause damage in the park territory or in nearby towns and cities, but were felt 150 miles (21 kilometers) away, in Las Vegas.
This type of series of earthquakes is not unusual, but experts fear that this uptick in seismic activity could mean that a larger earthquake is coming to the region. The Death Valley fault system is known for its intense seismic activity. The director of the University of Nevada Seismological Laboratory, Christie Rowe, explains that the recent tremors raise concerns about the valley’s proximity to Las Vegas, according to KTNV.
“We think the Death Valley faults could generate earthquakes of magnitudes as high as 6 or 7,” Rowe said. “That level of shaking is something we monitor carefully, as it could significantly affect the Las Vegas Valley,” he noted.
According to the director, “series of earthquakes occur in Nevada all the time,” however, alert levels increase because “sometimes they are followed by a larger earthquake.”
Likewise, Rowe recalled that Nevada is the third state with the highest seismic activity in the US and stressed the importance of the population being prepared for possible earthquakes in Las Vegas.
In 2019, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Southern California, about 50 kilometers from the area where the tremors were recently recorded, leaving a deep crack that has since become a local tourist attraction.
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