1932 Cedar Mountain earthquake

Earthquake in Nevada 38.631 -117.910 region:US inline, title Nevada 1932-12-21 06:10:10 906508 iscgem906508 December 20, 1932 10.0 km 7.3 s yesEB 906508 Central Nevada Seismic Belt, Walker Lane Seismic Zone Strike-slip (dextral) Nevada, United States Limited XM 6.8 – The 1932 Cedar Mountain Earthquake, Nevada https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/iscgem906508/executive United States Geological Survey 17 February 2022 at least 1 injured The Cedar Mountain earthquake of 1932 was one of the largest seismic events in the US state of Nevada. The s y 7.3 earthquake struck at Cedar Mountain in Western Nevada. Shaking was felt as far as Oregon, Southern California, and the Rocky Mountains area. Nevada is the third most seismically active state in the United States due to ongoing rifting occurring within the North American plate. Extension or thinning of the crust has resulted in numerous faults accommodating strain, at the same time, producing earthquakes.Price Jon 2004 Geology of Nevada http://www.nbmg.unr.edu/_docs/GeologyOfNevada.pdf 29 November 2020 University of Nevada, Reno Since the earthquake occurred in a remote part of the state, damage was limited and no deaths were reported. Tectonic setting Western Nevada lies along the edge of the geologic province known as the Basin and Range. This area of rifting within the North American continent does so in a northwest–southeast direction. Extension of the crust has resulted in a diffuse area of low slip rate faults. Price Jonathan G. 2004 Geology of Nevada http://www.nbmg.unr.edu/_docs/GeologyOfNevada.pdf University of Nevada, Reno This network of predominantly strike-slip and normal faults termed the Central Nevada Seismic Belt (CNSB) occasionally undergoes large "beltlike" earthquake sequences to help accommodate regional stresses with multiple sequences having occurred in the past 13,000 years.Bell John W. Caskey John S. Ramelli Alan R. Guerrieri Luca Pattern and Rates of Faulting in the Central Nevada Seismic Belt, and Paleoseismic Evidence for Prior Beltlike Behavior Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 1 August 1994 94 4 1229–1254 10.1785/012003226 https://doi.org/10.1785/012003226 20 August 2022 subscription This earthquake occurred in the beginning portion of the most recent earthquake sequence, with the 1915 Pleasant Valley earthquake and 1954 Rainbow Mountain-Fairview Peak-Dixie Valley earthquakes also being associated. Further to the west near the border with California, earthquakes become predominantly strike slip along a shear zone known as the Walker Lane which has hosted earthquakes such as the 1872 Owens Valley earthquake. Earthquake The earthquake occurred along a zone of strike-slip faults creating surface ruptures 60 km long and 6–14 km wide, trending southeast from the epicenter.DePolo Clark Slemmons Ramelli Craig M. Douglas G. D. Burton Alan R. 20 June 1990 Historical surface faulting in the Basin and Range province, western North America: implications for fault segmentation Journal of Structural Geology 13 128 10.1016/0191-8141(91)90061-MMolinari Mark Philip December 1984 Late Cenozoic geology and tectonics of Stewart and Monte Cristo Valleys, west-central Nevada https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML0331/ML033180585.pdf Dissertation University of Nevada, Reno Rupture was distributed across faults spanning three valleys and several mountain fronts including the Stewart-Monte Cristo Valley Fault Zone, and several small, unnamed faults in the Stewart and Gabbs Valleys. Maximum displacement was recorded at 2.7 m, with some dip-slip (normal) offset at 0.5 m.J.W. Bell C.M. DePolo A.R. Ramelli A. M. Sarna-Wojcicki C.E. Meyer Surface faulting and paleoseismic history of the 1932 Cedar Mountain earthquake area, west-central Nevada, and implications for modern tectonics of the Walker Lane https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/70021542#:~:text=The%201932%20Cedar%20Mountain%20earthquake%20(Ms%207.2)%20was%20one%20of,faults%20distributed%20through%20three%20valleys. Geological Society of America Bulletin 1999 111 6 17 10.1130/0016-7606(1999)111<0791:SFAPHO>2.3.CO;2 1999GSAB..111..791B United States Geological Survey subscription During the earthquake, many eyewitness reported lightning bolts and "mysterious lights" in Carson Valley. Shaking reached the maximum of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale in Nevada, and overall, was felt for an area size of 850,000 square km.Significant Earthquake Information NEVADA: CEDAR MOUNTAIN https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/earthquake/event-more-info/3505 29 November 2020 NOAA NCEI This complicated strike-slip earthquake between two mountain ranges was similar to that of the Owens Valley earthquake of 1872. Impact As the area around Cedar Mountain is uninhabited desert, damage was minimal. However two cabins; one made from stone and the other from adobe, were destroyed. The earthquake also damaged ore-refining facilities and mines. At Luning and Mina in Mineral County, the shock toppled many chimneys, while strong shaking was felt in Fallon and Tonopah. It was felt for 400,000 mi2, extending from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast, and also in southern Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Arizona, and San Diego.Stover C.W. Coffman J.L. Seismicity of the United States, 1568–1989 (Revised) https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/pp1527 1527 1993 USGS Numbered Series United States Geological Survey 291 Gianella Vincent P. Callaghan Eugene The Cedar Mountain, Nevada, earthquake of December 20, 1932 Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union 1933 14 1 257-260 10.1029/TR014i001p00257 References Further reading Gianella Vincent P. Callaghan Eugene The Earthquake of December 20, 1932, at Cedar Mountain, Nevada and Its Bearing on the Genesis of Basin Range Structure The Journal of Geology 1934 42 1 1–22 10.1086/624127 1934JG.....42....1G 129867143 30055955 Category:1932 earthquakes Category:December 1932 in the United States Category:Earthquakes in Nevada Category:Natural disasters in Nevada Category:1932 in Nevada Category:History of Mineral County, Nevada