The Unremarkable Tremblings of a Most Agitated Earth

Well, I do declare that Mother Nature has taken quite a fancy to rattling the bones of Nevada's good citizens as of late. According to those learned fellows at the United States Geological Survey, a bureau of government folk who get paid to count the earth's hiccups, a most modest earthquake of magnitude 3.7 decided to pay an unwelcome visit to the vicinity of Silver Springs at the ungodly hour of 4:48 in the morning.

Now, I ask you, what sort of uncivilized tremor awakens a man from his slumber before the rooster has even considered his morning crow? It is an affront to decency, I say! The Nevada Seismological Laboratory, another collection of scientific fellows who measure such things, confirms the untimely shaking, mercifully left no injuries, likely because most sensible folk were still abed when the earth decided to stretch its legs.

What strikes me as particularly curious is that it is but the latest in a series of geological histrionics that have plagued northwestern Nevada since April 13, when a more substantial magnitude 5.68 quake struck near Lahontan Reservoir. One might suppose the earth has developed a taste for dramatics, like an actress who cannot bear to leave Piper's stage.

The learned scientists tell us these quakes may represent an "earthquake swarm," a sequence of mostly small earthquakes with no identifiable mainshock. I ask you, what sort of swarm is it that doesn't even have a proper leader? It reminds me of a political convention where everyone wishes to speak, but none have anything of consequence to say.

The most amusing revelation comes from one Christie Rowe, director of the NSL, who confided that "this earthquake sequence is on a fault we didn't know about before it started, crossing the Dead Camel Mountains."

Imagine that! The earth has been keeping secrets from us, harboring unknown faults beneath its surface like a gambler hiding an ace up his sleeve. The Dead Camel Mountains indeed, perhaps the camels are not the only dead things in that region, but also the reputations of geologists who thought they knew all there was to know about the ground beneath our feet.

Now, the government people have some advice for when the earth begins to dance its jolly jig: get underneath a heavy table or desk to protect oneself from falling objects. A doorway might suffice as well, though one must be wary of the door swinging back and forth like a pendulum of doom.

I ask you, what sort of protection is a table when the very earth itself is in rebellion? It strikes me as rather like using an umbrella in a hurricane, a gesture of defiance against forces that care little for our modest inventions.

The truth of the matter is that these earthquakes have been coming with some regularity. On May 1, a magnitude 5.2 quake struck 12 miles southeast of Silver Springs, and before that, on April 13, the area experienced a magnitude 5.7 quake with three significant aftershocks. It seems the earth has developed a taste for Nevada hospitality, though it is a rather rough guest.

I suppose we must take comfort in the fact that these quakes, while numerous, have not yet caused the sort of calamity that makes for good newspaper headlines. The USGS has collected some 31 online responses from people saying they experienced weak shaking, with residents in cities such as Fernley and Fallon reporting they felt the quake.

Thirty-one responses! Why, that's fewer people than typically attend a church revival on a good Sunday.

Perhaps the most telling observation comes from the earthquake trackers, who note that over the past 30 days, there have been some 75 recorded earthquakes in this region. The largest was that magnitude 5.2 event near Silver Springs, which drew 1,871 felt reports from the public.

One thousand eight hundred seventy-one people felt the earth move, and yet life goes on as before. It speaks to the remarkable resilience of human nature, or perhaps to our remarkable capacity for ignoring things we cannot control.

So what are we to make of all this geological commotion? Perhaps it is simply Mother Nature's way of reminding us that with all our scientific knowledge and technological advancement, we remain but tenants upon a planet that occasionally reminds us who is truly in charge.

The earth may shake, the ground may tremble, but the human spirit, much like a stubborn mule, refuses to be easily moved.