Nevada has experienced a surge in seismic activity over the past five hours, with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reporting seven earthquakes. The strongest, a 3.6-magnitude tremor, struck near Valmy at 5:44 a.m. ET on Saturday.
The small town of Valmy sits along several active fault systems, including the Fairview Peak–Dixie Valley Fault Scarps, the Central Nevada Seismic Belt, and the Pleasant Valley Fault, which is capable of producing quakes up to magnitude 7.7.
Seismologists believe the swarm was driven by tectonic forces associated with the Basin and Range Province, one of the most geologically dynamic regions in the United States. NASA explains that the Earth’s crust here is gradually stretching and thinning, causing it to fracture into hundreds of faults. Over millions of years, land on one side of these faults has risen into mountain ranges, while the opposite side has sunk into valleys.
The recent earthquakes were shallow, averaging about five miles below the surface. Shallow quakes can be more hazardous than deeper tremors because seismic energy travels to the surface more directly. However, no damage or shaking reports have been submitted to the USGS, largely due to the area’s sparse population.
According to Michigan Tech University, earthquakes under magnitude 2.5 are rarely felt, while those between 2.5 and 5.4 are usually noticeable but cause only minor damage.
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Valmy is also home to two of Nevada’s largest gold mines—Twin Creeks and Turquoise Ridge. Mining operations can influence local seismic conditions through excavation, blasting, and underground fluid use, which may alter stress in surrounding rocks. Experts caution, however, that while mining can contribute to small tremors, it is unlikely to trigger stronger earthquakes tied to large regional faults.
The Basin and Range Province, where Valmy is located, spans a vast area from southern Idaho and Oregon to Nevada, eastern California, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. The crust here is relatively thin—about 19 to 22 miles deep—and has stretched laterally by as much as 186 miles since the Early Miocene epoch.
Past events underscore the region’s activity: a 6.5-magnitude quake in Idaho and a 5.7-magnitude quake in Utah, both in March 2020, were linked to Basin and Range fault systems.