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Residents of the Reno suburb of Mogul are so shaken by an intense swarm of earthquakes over the past two months that some have taken to sleeping outside in campers and trucks.Since an April 25 temblor knocked pictures off the walls and broke the family crystal, Phil Oberlander has spent nights in his Cuddy Cabin boat parked in front of the house."I was in a car wreck that was less violent than the earthquake," Oberlander said. "When you get a hundred of them in one day, you start to feel like you are in Berlin in 1944."Since Feb. 28, more than 1,000 earthquakes have struck the small community about 2 miles west of Reno.The strongest one, of 4.7 magnitude, hit a week ago, knocking over furniture and cracking walls. Along with California, Nevada is one of the most seismically active states in the country. Nevada experienced magnitude 6 quakes in Verdi, west of Reno, in 1948 and in Reno in 1914.But scientists say the "Mogul earthquake sequence" is unusual."Normally, Nevada and California earthquakes are 5 to 10 kilometers deep, and these here are unusually shallow," said Rasool Anooshehpoor, research associate professor at the Seismological Laboratory at the University of Nevada. "Hopefully, we can learn and see what causes them, but right now I don't think we have enough information."Scientists are also puzzled over the progression of the swarms - usually, the main shock is followed by a series of smaller quakes that eventually fade out. In the Mogul sequence, smaller temblors led to a large one, Anooshehpoor said.On April 25, for example, the area was hit by a magnitude 3.3 quake, followed by a 4.7 and at least 30 smaller ones. Since then, the scientists have counted more than 600 quakes."It is certainly intriguing, and it will be interesting to see when all this comes together," said David Hill, a veteran seismologist at the U.S. Geological Survey. "We see a lot of sequences like this in volcanic areas, where they are associated with stresses as the magna moves around."Mogul residents uneasy
Earthquakes historically have occurred away from population centers, and Mogul residents say all the moving and shaking right beneath the town has put them on edge."I know people in the Bay Area think we are wimps, and 4.7 is not very big," said Sandy Wyosnick, who took all her paintings off walls, duct-taped her kitchen cabinets shut and now sleeps in a camper in the backyard. "But when it's right under your feet, it's big."Len and Gail Sims decided not to take their chances and moved into a downtown hotel."It's very nerve-racking; you don't know when the big one is coming," Sims said. "Our nerves are just fried."Last week, Len Sims was awakened by a loud crack - the 4.7 temblor sent a TV set and paintings to the floor. The Sims spent the rest of the night in the back of their truck and in the morning got an emergency supply of water and food.
Temblor smashed bar
The April 25 quake also pushed the fireplace several inches off the wall and took down a bar filled with collectible wine and liquor in Garrett Rucker's two-story house."It was just unreal," said Rucker, who now sleeps in a motor home outside the house with his parents."I looked at the book shelves, and they were moving from side to side."In the past several days, the number of the earthquakes has been declining, but scientists are being careful with their predictions about future seismic activities in the area.Historically,there is a 5 percent chance that any earthquake can be followed by another one of a higher magnitude in the following 10 days."People have been studying to see if there is a precursor," said Anooshehpoor."But no scientist can tell you that there is going to be an earthquake tomorrow at 5 p.m."The talk around town is about a big one hitting the area in the upcoming weeks. Some residents are staying with their relatives in Reno, while others, like Wyosnick, are camping outside."One good thing that has come out of this," she said, "is that we have finally met our neighbors."
By Anastasia Ustinova
As in the days of Noah
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