3.8 quake in Las Vegas highlights Southern Nevada’s seismic risks

LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — A 3.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Thursday afternoon startled residents across the Las Vegas Valley, with reports of shaking felt as far west as Pahrump.

The earthquake occurred shortly before 2 p.m. and was centered about six miles west of Summerlin near the Red Rock Canyon area. According to experts, the quake was relatively shallow, occurring approximately six kilometers (about 4.5 miles) below the surface.

“It was relatively shallow; it was about 6 kilometers and about 4 and a half miles deep. That is a very Nevada-style thing to have happened. We have shallow earthquakes in Nevada. That means for the same magnitude we feel it more at the surface,” said Dr. Christie Rowe, Director of the Nevada Seismological Laboratory.

While Nevada ranks as the third most earthquake-prone state in the nation behind Alaska and California, Dr. Rowe said the location of Thursday’s earthquake came as a surprise.

“This quake was a surprise because we don’t know of any faults in this particular location, but that is actually not uncommon, especially in southern Nevada, because the faults that we know of are the ones that have earthquakes in the recent past, and we have a lot of faults that are out there. We haven’t had an earthquake in a recent past, and so there are always a surprise,” Dr. Rowe added.

Many Southern Nevadans may not realize just how many fault lines exist throughout the region. Experts say several faults run much closer to populated areas than most people think.

“Las Vegas has many fault lines that a lot of people aren’t aware of that any one of them can trigger earthquakes,” Guy DeMarco from The City of Las Vegas Emergency Management team previously shared.

One such fault line is located near the heart of downtown Las Vegas.

“There is actually a fault line that runs right underneath the baseball field where the 51’s used to play,” DeMarco added.

Despite ongoing research, experts say it is still hard to accurately predict when or where the next major earthquake will occur.

“A big one can happen tomorrow, or a big one may not happen for 50-100 years. We really don’t know because fault lines operate on their own time, and they could go at any point. A lot of people assume they don’t happen here,” DeMarco said.

Although no damage or injuries were immediately reported following Thursday’s earthquake, experts caution that seismic activity may continue in the coming hours and days.

“There could be some felt aftershocks every once in a while; one of these earthquakes turns out to be a foreshock, but we don’t know that until a bigger earthquake happens afterward,” Dr. Rowe said.

The earthquake serves as an important reminder for residents to review their emergency preparedness plans.

“The kind of things that we would really worry about is something that is big enough to damage our water supply, maybe take power offline, affect communications. Have some food and water at home and supplies that would help you get through any shortages that might occur after a major earthquake,” Rowe advised.

Nevada is also preparing to implement the ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system, similar to the program already operating in California. The system is designed to send alerts to residents seconds before shaking begins, providing valuable time to take protective action.

For now, experts encourage Southern Nevadans to use Thursday’s earthquake as a reminder to be prepared.