Nevada's Gold Country Hit By Strong Quake
Date: 22-Feb-08
Country: US
Author: Doug McMurdo
The 6.0 magnitude quake near the town of Wells sparked small fires and cracked pipes, cutting off running water for a time, residents and officials said.
The main street dating from the late 1800s suffered the most damage as ceilings collapsed, windows broke and bricks fell. Although many of its saloons, markets and banks are no longer used, officials had talked about reviving the area.
"The historic district is pretty much done for," said City Manager Jolene Supp.
About 380 miles (613 km) north of the gambling centre of Las Vegas, Wells came to life in the late 19th century as deep, clear springs attracted travellers going west to California.
The Chamber of Commerce touts the town of around 1,600 people as a "perfect setting" for western and road movies.
Sparsely populated northwest Nevada is home to the most prolific gold mining region in the Western hemisphere. Mines quickly resumed their round-the-clock operations even as dozens of aftershocks hit throughout the day.
About 50 miners were underground some 100 miles (160 km) from the epicentre when the quake hit but they evacuated without incident, said Mary Korpi, a spokeswoman for Newmont Mining Corp.
In Wells, one person broke an arm, another had cuts to the head and a third had trouble breathing, said Kevin McKinney in the Elko County Sheriff's Department.
All commercial establishments in Wells were closed. The ceiling fell in the only grocery store, leaving a smell of alcohol from broken bottles. Paint spilled across the floor in the hardware store next door.
The quake struck at 6:16 a.m. PST (1416 GMT), with a shallow epicentre 6.2 miles (10km) deep.
BROTHEL JOLTED
The area includes Goldstrike, the largest-producing mine of Barrick Gold Corp. Company spokesman Louis Schack said he had not heard of any effect on operations centred 90-100 miles (144-161 km) west of the epicentre.
A Chevron Corp spokesman said there was no effect on its 45,000 barrel per day Salt Lake City refinery, about 180 miles (290 km) east of Wells.
Randy Bowers said he was working the overnight bartending shift at Donna's Ranch, Wells' 140-year-old brothel, when he felt two powerful jolts and a lighter one. Nevada is the only US state with legal prostitution.
"The building is here but everything else is demolished, everything inside is trashed," Bowers said.
"Stuff didn't fall off, it flew off," he added, noting there were no customers in the brothel at the time and that the "working girls were in their rooms."
(Writing by Adam Tanner; Additional reporting by James Nelson in Salt Lake City, Erwin Seba in Houston and Mary Milliken and Peter Henderson in Los Angeles; Editing by John O'Callaghan)