Small California earthquake felt in Las Vegas

An earthquake struck near Barstow, California, on Friday evening, according to the National Weather Service.

A 4.6 magnitude earthquake struck at about 7:05 p.m. in an area about 14 miles northeast of Barstow on Friday, according to a tweet from the National Weather Service. Barstow is about 200 miles southwest of Las Vegas.

7:10 pm - Wow! Did you feel it? A 4.6 magnitude earthquake just happened 14 miles north-northeast of Barstow, CA. #vegasweather #CAwx

See details here: https://t.co/bgNr5A5CJj pic.twitter.com/pYnfzhjaZN

— NWS Las Vegas (@NWSVegas) January 25, 2020

As of about 9 p.m., there were more than 140 reports from the Las Vegas Valley on the U.S. Geological Survey’s “Did You Feel It?” map, where users can report when they feel an earthquake in their area.

The earthquake was reported at a depth of about 2.3 miles, according to the USGS.

Review-Journal photographer Kevin Cannon reported swaying in his downtown apartment building.

We felt it in our swaying building downtown. https://t.co/kvlEsvoZ1m

— Kevin M. Cannon (@kmcannonphoto) January 25, 2020

The USGS also recorded a 2.9 magnitude earthquake in the same area near Barstow about 7:10 p.m., according to the agency’s website.

The National Weather Service tweeted about a “very small” earthquake with a magnitude of 1.3 felt Friday evening about 12 miles northeast of Moapa. According to data from the Nevada Seismological Laboratory in Reno, that agency can record up to 10 preliminary reports of earthquakes in Nevada every day, and most are less than magnitude 2.

Whoa! Another one. Very small though. 10 miles west of Mesquite. https://t.co/f5rpfSzNTj

— NWS Las Vegas (@NWSVegas) January 25, 2020

Earthquakes in the Mojave Desert area have been felt in the Las Vegas Valley as recently as August. A 5.0 magnitude quake hit the Ridgecrest, California, area and was felt in the valley on Aug. 5.

USGS geophysicist Julie Dutton said that quake was an aftershock of the larger earthquakes that hit the Southern California area on July 4 and July 5. The July 4 quake, with a magnitude of 6.4, was reported to be the strongest earthquake to hit Southern California in 20 years.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.

Here is what your reports look like after they are plotted on a map by intensity. Very cool . pic.twitter.com/qn30aSZzGw

— NWS Las Vegas (@NWSVegas) January 25, 2020