Nevada Highway Cracked and Closed After 6.5 Earthquake

A stretch of highway that connects Las Vegas to Reno, Nev., was cracked by a 6.5 magnitude earthquake, forcing officials to shut it down. Courtesy of Nevada Highway Patrol

A stretch of highway that connects Las Vegas to Reno, Nev., was cracked by a 6.5 magnitude earthquake, forcing officials to shut it down.

No injuries were reported following the quake, but Nevada Highway Patrol photos revealed cracks along U.S. Highway 95 that were caused by the earthquake.

In a travel advisory, the Nevada Highway Patrol wrote: “Earthquake damage at US-95 and Esmeralda County MM 89 has closed the highway between SR-360 and US-6 (Coaldale Junction). Use an alternate route and expect delays while @nevadadot makes repairs.”

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said the tremor hit near Tonopah, and several aftershocks were reported.

“It really shook a lot of groceries off the shelves,” Keith Hasty, an employee at a gas station in Tonopah, said in a Las Vegas Review-Journal report.

“It shook, but it wasn’t that much,” Nye County sheriff’s Capt. David Boruchowitz said in Pahrump, Fox 11 reported. There was no damage reported at two historic landmark businesses in Tonopah.

According to the USGS, people from Salt Lake City, Utah, to the Central Valley in California reported shaking.