1932 Cedar Mountain earthquake

1932 Cedar Mountain earthquake
1932 Cedar Mountain earthquake is located in Nevada
1932 Cedar Mountain earthquake
Location within Nevada
UTC time
  • 1932-12-21 06:10:10
ISC event
USGS-ANSS
Local date
  • December 20, 1932
Local time
Magnitude
Depth
  • 10.0 km (6.2 mi)
Epicenter38°37′52″N 117°54′36″W / 38.631°N 117.910°W / 38.631; -117.910
FaultCentral Nevada Seismic Belt, Walker Lane Seismic Zone
TypeStrike-slip (dextral)
Areas affectedNevada, United States
Total damageLimited
Max. intensityMMI X (Extreme)[2]
Casualtiesat least 1 injured

The Cedar Mountain earthquake of 1932 was one of the largest seismic events in the US state of Nevada. The Ms 7.3 earthquake struck at Cedar Mountain in Western Nevada. Shaking was felt as far as Oregon, Southern California, and the Rocky Mountains area. Nevada is the third most seismically active state in the United States due to ongoing rifting occurring within the North American plate. Extension or thinning of the crust has resulted in numerous faults accommodating strain, at the same time, producing earthquakes.[3] Since the earthquake occurred in a remote part of the state, damage was limited and no deaths were reported.

Tectonic setting

Western Nevada lies along the edge of the geologic province known as the Basin and Range. This area of rifting within the North American continent does so in a northwest–southeast direction. Extension of the crust has resulted in a diffuse area of low slip rate faults.[4] This network of predominantly strike-slip and normal faults termed the Central Nevada Seismic Belt (CNSB) occasionally undergoes large "beltlike" earthquake sequences to help accommodate regional stresses with multiple sequences having occurred in the past 13,000 years.[5] This earthquake occurred in the beginning portion of the most recent earthquake sequence, with the 1915 Pleasant Valley earthquake and 1954 Rainbow Mountain-Fairview Peak-Dixie Valley earthquakes also being associated.[5] Further to the west near the border with California, earthquakes become predominantly strike slip along a shear zone known as the Walker Lane which has hosted earthquakes such as the 1872 Owens Valley earthquake.

Earthquake

The earthquake occurred along a zone of strike-slip faults creating surface ruptures 60 km (37 mi) long and 6–14 km (3.7–8.7 mi) wide, trending southeast from the epicenter.[6][7] Rupture was distributed across faults spanning three valleys and several mountain fronts including the Stewart-Monte Cristo Valley Fault Zone, and several small, unnamed faults in the Stewart and Gabbs Valleys. Maximum displacement was recorded at 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in), with some dip-slip (normal) offset at 0.5 m (1 ft 8 in).[6][8] During the earthquake, many eyewitness reported lightning bolts and "mysterious lights" in Carson Valley. Shaking reached the maximum of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale in Nevada, and overall, was felt for an area size of 850,000 square km.[6][9] This complicated strike-slip earthquake between two mountain ranges was similar to that of the Owens Valley earthquake of 1872.

Impact

As the area around Cedar Mountain is uninhabited desert, damage was minimal. However two cabins; one made from stone and the other from adobe, were destroyed. The earthquake also damaged ore-refining facilities and mines. At Luning and Mina in Mineral County, the shock toppled many chimneys, while strong shaking was felt in Fallon and Tonopah. It was felt for 400,000 square miles (1,000,000 km2), extending from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast, and also in southern Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Arizona, and San Diego.[10][11]

References

  1. ↑ International Seismological Centre. Event Bibliography. Thatcham, United Kingdom. [Event 906508].
  2. ↑ "M 6.8 – The 1932 Cedar Mountain Earthquake, Nevada". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  3. ↑ Price, Jon (2004). "Geology of Nevada" (PDF). University of Nevada, Reno. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  4. ↑ Price, Jonathan G. (2004). "Geology of Nevada" (PDF). University of Nevada, Reno.
  5. 1 2 Bell, John W.; Caskey, John S.; Ramelli, Alan R.; Guerrieri, Luca (1 August 1994). "Pattern and Rates of Faulting in the Central Nevada Seismic Belt, and Paleoseismic Evidence for Prior Beltlike Behavior". Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. 94 (4): 1229–1254. doi:10.1785/012003226. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 DEPOLO, CRAIG M.; CLARK, DOUGLAS G.; SLEMMONS, D. BURTON; RAMELLI, ALAN R. (20 June 1990). "Historical surface faulting in the Basin and Range province, western North America: implications for fault segmentation". Journal of Structural Geology. 13: 128. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.508.4239. {{cite journal}}: Cite uses deprecated parameter |citeseerx= (help)
  7. ↑ Molinari, Mark Philip (December 1984). "Late Cenozoic geology and tectonics of Stewart and Monte Cristo Valleys, west-central Nevada" (PDF). Dissertation. University of Nevada, Reno.
  8. ↑ J.W. Bell; C.M. DePolo; A.R. Ramelli; A. M. Sarna-Wojcicki; C.E. Meyer (1999). "Surface faulting and paleoseismic history of the 1932 Cedar Mountain earthquake area, west-central Nevada, and implications for modern tectonics of the Walker Lane". Geological Society of America Bulletin. 111 (6). United States Geological Survey: 17. Bibcode:1999GSAB..111..791B. doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1999)111<0791:SFAPHO>2.3.CO;2.
  9. ↑ "Significant Earthquake Information NEVADA: CEDAR MOUNTAIN". NOAA NCEI. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  10. ↑ Stover, C.W.; Coffman, J.L. (1993). Seismicity of the United States, 1568–1989 (Revised) (Report). USGS Numbered Series. Vol. 1527. United States Geological Survey. p. 291. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  11. ↑ Gianella, Vincent P.; Callaghan, Eugene (1933). "The Cedar Mountain, Nevada, earthquake of December 20, 1932". Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union. 14 (1): 257–260. doi:10.1029/TR014i001p00257.

Further reading

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