Nevada earthquake followed by three aftershocks

Today's Nevada earthquake had a magnitude of 5.1, reports the US Geological Survey, and was followed by three aftershocks over the next 40 minutes.

A Nevada earthquake struck a rural area about 120 miles each from Custer City and South Lake Tahoe at 4:10 p.m. today, says the USGS. This region of Nevada gets dozens of tiny earthquakes each week, but quakes of this scale are rare.

United States Geological Survey

February 12, 2013

A moderate earthquake and a trio of smaller aftershocks have struck rural Nevada, near the California state line.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the 5.1-magnitude earthquake hit at 4:10 p.m. Tuesday.

It was centered 45 miles west of Tonopah, about 200 miles south of Reno and 17 miles south of Mina.

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The Nevada Seismological Lab at the University of Nevada, Reno says three aftershocks followed of magnitudes 3.1, 3.3 and 3.7. The last came at 4:49 p.m. 25 miles south of Mina.

Ellen Hall-Patton, a student seismological analyst at the Reno lab, said all were centered near the same area.

A Nye County sheriff's dispatcher said she felt the earthquake in Tonopah but there were no damage reports.