More than 150 aftershocks have been recorded on the west edge of Reno after an earthquake shook cans off shelves, knocked pictures off walls and dislodged rocks on hillsides along the Sierra Nevada. There were no immediate reports of injuries or major damage from the magnitude 4 . 7 quake that hit at 11:40 p.m. yesterday.
It was the largest quake in a two-month-long swarm of tremors.
The U.S . Geological Survey said last night ‘s quake was centered six miles west of Reno near Mogul, an area rattled by a swarm of more than 100 quakes the day before. The strongest of those was a magnitude 4.2 that caused high rise hotels to sway in the downtown casino district.
The temblor cracked walls in northwest Reno, broke lawn watering lines and damaged a wooden flume built along the Truckee River, built in the late 1800s to float timber from Lake Tahoe down the mountain to Reno. There was no flooding because of the flume damage.
The recent activity around Reno is unusual because the quakes started out small and continue to build in strength. The normal pattern is for a main quake followed by smaller after shocks.
Reno’s last major quake measured 6.1 on April 24, 1914, and awakened people as far away as Sacramento, California.
The Old Blog in the Desert 
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