Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Las Vegas freeway ramps reopen after 5.3-magnitude earthquake

Earthquake freeway ramp damage

Steve Marcus

Nevada Highway Patrol troopers and Nevada Department of Transportation workers inspect an expansion joint on the 95 south to I-15 south ramp after an earthquake Friday, May 22, 2015.

Updated Friday, May 22, 2015 | 5 p.m.

Earthquake epicenter

All Las Vegas freeway ramps have reopened after a 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit about 125 miles north near Caliente, where the temblor rattled windows and dishes.

The quake, which struck at 11:47 a.m. today, was centered about 24 miles south-southwest of Caliente in Lincoln County but was felt across the Las Vegas Valley.

The freeway transition ramp from southbound U.S. 95 to southbound Interstate 15 near downtown Las Vegas was closed after the quake, as was the ramp from U.S. 95 southbound to I-15 northbound and the Martin Luther King on-ramp to southbound I-15, according to the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada. Officials announced at about 5 p.m. that all the ramps were open.

Rubber encasing the bridge seam on the U.S. 95 ramp to southbound I-15 had separated, according to the Department of Transportation.

Engineers inspected the seam and ramp before determining there was pre-existing joint damage.

“The tremblor simply dislodged the protective rubber encasing the bridge seam making it look much worse than it was in reality,” NDOT District I Engineer Mary Martini said in a statement. “However, we’re issuing an emergency contract to repair the seam. Meanwhile, the ramps remain structurally sound and safe for travel.”

There were no other immediate reports of serious damage or injury.

Victor Jones, who runs an auto repair shop in Caliente, said that when he felt the earthquake, he thought it was from a “sonic boom.”

“I looked at my front doors in my shop, and they were moving back and forth about six inches. All of my glass was just shaking,” he said.

Jones said his shop suffered no damage and nothing was broken.

Cheri Carrington, a cook at Pioneer Pizza in Caliente, said she heard dishes rattling as the quake shook the restaurant.

“It felt like one of those big heavy trucks that shake everything when they drive past,” she said.

The quake didn’t interrupt business.

Robert Mull was at the Midway Motel, which his wife owns, at the time. He said the motel didn’t suffer any major damage, but a guest reported a cracked window.

People have remained calm, he said. “There hasn’t been a siren that’s gone off. There’s just nothing crazy. Everyone’s pretty chill,” he said.

Guests even gathered in the parking lot after the shaking to get “a little laugh out of it,” Mull said.

Four smaller quakes ranging from magnitude 2.5 to 3.8 were reported in the same area after the initial earthquake.

Aftershocks can be expected after an earthquake of this magnitude, said Ken Smith of the Nevada Seismological Laboratory. As far as damage from an earthquake of this magnitude, "If you're local, some stuff will certainly get knocked off walls," he said.

A dispatcher at the Lincoln County sheriff's office in Pioche said calls came in from people who felt the initial temblor in small Nevada towns including Alamo, Caliente and Panaca.

Dispatcher Shannon Miller said there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

People took to social media to report feeling the quake, but those already on the Las Vegas Strip appeared to take any shaking in stride, without any interruption to the gambling destination's usual fun.

Caesars Entertainment Corp.'s 550-foot-tall High Roller observation wheel was still taking riders on a slow spin after officials said inspections revealed everything had gone according to the ride's earthquake plan.

Metro Police said they had not received calls about the quake or damage. Las Vegas Fire & Rescue tweeted about 12:30 p.m. that it had not received any fire or medical calls related to the quake.

Officials at McCarran International Airport said flight operations were running normally.

No damage was reported at the Nevada National Security Site, spokesman Morgan Darwin said.

Darwin said he didn't have knowledge of anyone feeling the quakes today and that people at the site do exercises on a regular basis to prepare for earthquakes.

Nevada is laced with faults and ranks third in the nation behind California and Alaska for earthquake activity.

Kara Rutkin, a publicist in southwest Las Vegas originally from California, said she was working in her second-story office when she felt Friday's quake and five to 10 seconds of shaking. Some colleagues were new to the feeling.

"It's not typical to have these out here. That's why it took everyone a minute to process it," Rutkin said. "I think it was just more an exciting thing to be part of it — as exciting as an earthquake can be."

A magnitude-6.0 quake that struck near the northeast Nevada town of Wells in 2008 is the largest the state has experienced in more than 40 years, said Mickey Cassar, a technician at the Nevada Seismological Laboratory at UNR.

The Nevada Seismological Laboratory said the earthquake could be labeled as either a 5.3 magnitude or a 4.8 magnitude, depending on the way it was measured.

The 5.3 magnitude is based on ground motion, while the 4.8 measurement is derived from the energy of the earthquake waves, according to the laboratory.

Friday's quake was shallower than most, about 3.8 kilometers (2.4 miles) below the surface, he said.

"The shallower an earthquake occurs, the more shaking there is and the farther away it is felt," he said.

Several aftershocks, from magnitude 1.0 to 3.8, followed the larger quake.

Jacqueline Spute, administrative assistant at the Moapa Band of Paiutes reservation about 40 miles south of the quake's epicenter, said the quake felt like "slow-motion rocking."

Band officials were checking dams and infrastructure, but there were no immediate reports of damage, she said.

St. George Mayor Jon Pike said he was at work at a health insurance company, sitting at his desk, when he felt the quake.

"It wasn't a violent shaking, but I definitely felt like someone was just kind of pushing the building like it was made out of rubber or something," he said.

Sun reporter Pashtana Usufzy and the Associated Press’ Kimberly Piercall contributed to this report.

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