Ready for the Big One?

Wednesday, April 30, 2008 | 2:08 a.m.

An earthquake strong enough to crack walls and shake items from store shelves hit Reno last week, the largest in a series of earthquakes that has hit Northern Nevada over the past two months.

As a result of Friday night’s magnitude 4.7 temblor, scientists are telling the region’s residents to prepare for what could be a big one, the Associated Press reports. Literally hundreds of smaller quakes have been occurring along fault lines in and around Reno since Feb. 28, seismologists at the University of Nevada, Reno, told the AP.

The Reno-area earthquakes started a week after a magnitude 6 temblor hit Wells and caused about $778,000 in damage to homes, schools and historic buildings.

Earthquakes happen almost constantly in Nevada, where fault lines cross most of the state. The mountains of Nevada’s basin and range topography are what geologists call fault block mountains, which means they formed as earth rose or sank along fault lines. Only California and Alaska have more earthquake activity than Nevada. And the Energy Department and the Bush administration want to bury nuclear waste in Nevada?

A map of Nevada’s fault lines and earthquake activity that was posted on the U.S. Geological Survey’s Web site Monday showed that at least 45 earthquakes had occurred in the past week and nine had occurred within the past 24 hours including a minor one measuring magnitude 1 just north of the Las Vegas Valley.

It should come as no surprise that significant quakes happen in Nevada, as they are happening at some level virtually all the time. And unlike hurricanes, which residents of coastal areas can literally track for days, earthquakes catch residents off guard.

That’s why it is important for Nevadans all across the state to heed scientists’ advice and prepare for the unexpected. Stash away some emergency food, water, flashlights and batteries. Make a plan with family members so that everyone will know what to do and where to go. Earthquakes are a fact of life in Nevada, and it is necessary to be prepared for them.