Earthquake swarm hits Mineral County, Nevada.

The United States Geological Survey recorded swarm of Earthquakes in western Nevada, beginning with a pair of a Magnitude 5.7 Earthquake at a depth of 8-12 km, slightly under 30 km to the southwest of the town of Hawthorne in Mineral County in western Nevada, at about 0.20 am local time (about 8.20 am GMT) on Wednesday 18 December 2016. About 50 quakes, mostly quite small, were recorded in the same area during the next 24 hours. There are no reports of any serious damage or injuries associated with this quake, but some damage to properties has been reported in rural areas of  Mineral County, as well as some road closures due to landslips. The events were felt across much of Nevada and California.

Damage to a property on a ranch in Mineral County, Nevada, following the 28 December 2016 Earthquakes. David Ziegler/KoloTV.

Nevada is a zone of active mountain orogeny (mountain growth), fuelled by the subduction zone on the American West Coast. The state is criss-crossed by faults associated with its many growing mountain ranges, which form part of the Rockies. The rocks of the North American lithosphere are being pushed to the east by seafloor spreading beneath the Pacific and to the west by seafloor spreading beneath the Atlantic. This results in folding and upthrust within the plate, principally in the Rocky Mountains, which run along the western margin of the North American Plate, close to the subduction and fault zones of the continent's west coast. This folding and thrusting leads to frequent Earthquakes throughout the Rocky Mountain region, with Nevada being one of America's most quake-prone states.

 The approximate location of the 28 December 2016 Mineral County Earthquake swarm. USGS.

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Severe damage to homes and businesses after tornado hits Hawthorne, Nevada.

Six homes and five businesses have reportedly suffered severe damage after a tornado touched down in the town of Hawthorne in Mineral County, Nevada, at about 3.15 pm local time on Friday 5 June 2015.  The storm created a trail of damage through the town about 30 m wide and 3 km in length, with most of the damage in the area where it first touched down. No-one was injured during the storm, but residents had to be temporarily evacuated from part of the town due to the hazard presented by downed power lines.

Damage to the Monarch Motel in Hawthorne, Nevada, following the 5 June 2015 tornado. Susan Frank Cooper/My News 4.

Damage caused to buildings over the first 500 m of the tornado's path has been estimated to be consistent with a tornado scoring an EF-1 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale; such a storm will produce windspeeds of 117-180 kilometers per hour, and is capable of peeling roofs off buildings, moving mobile homes off their foundations and even moving cars. The remainder of the storm's path is consistent with an EF-0 event, suggesting the storm lost energy as it passed over the town. An EF-0 tornado will produce winds of 64-116 kilometers per hour, causing minor damage to buildings, such as toppling chimneys and ripping off signs, and often pulling branches of trees.

Damage to a home in Hawthorne, Nevada, following the 5 June 2015 tornado. Susan Frank Cooper/My News 4.

Tornadoes are formed by winds within large thunder storms called super cells. Supercells are large masses of warm water-laden air formed by hot weather over the sea, when they encounter winds at high altitudes the air within them begins to rotate. The air pressure will drop within these zones of rotation, causing the air within them so rise, sucking the air beneath them up into the storm, this creates a zone of rotating rising air that appears to extend downwards as it grows; when it hits the ground it is called a tornado. 

The location of Hawthorne, Nevada. Google Maps.

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