False report of 5.9-magnitude earthquake sends phones buzzing in Nevada
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The warning was released by a tool called ShakeAlert that is designed to inform people about earthquakes before they feel shaking.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Erin McCann, Amy Graff and Michael Levenson
RENO, Nevada - An alert that Nevada had been rocked by a 5.9-magnitude earthquake early on Dec 4 sent phones buzzing briefly, before the US Geological Survey (USGS) quickly deleted the warning from its website and said it had been sent in error.
The alert for what would have been one of the largest earthquakes in the US in 2025 set off a chain of automatic warnings as far away as the San Francisco Bay Area, as people in Dayton, Nevada and nearby Reno began to report that they had felt no shaking.