Carson City fire chief says remarkably little damage from recent quakes

Carson City Fire Chief Sean Slamon says the area suffered remarkably little damage from last week’s earthquakes.

The swarm started last Friday with a magnitude 4.5 temblor near Prison Hill just after 6:30 p.m.

But that was followed by more than 100 smaller aftershocks, the largest of which was 3.2 on the Richter scale on Saturday.

“I’m not aware of any significant damage,” said Slamon. “Not even reports of home damage.”

He said Save Mart south and a couple of other stores reported some products getting knocked off shelves and there was one minor gas leak that may or may not have been caused by the quake.

“Overall, we survived pretty well.”

But he said the quakes were a good reminder for people to make some preparations for emergencies starting with planning to be on your own for at least 72 hours.

“We kind of have the mindset that we’re invincible,” he said. “Moments like the quake or the pandemic remind us we’re not and we have to prepare, too.”

He said people should make sure they have food and water available.

“Obviously now with the Stay at Home Nevada campaign, people are prepared for a little longer stay at home than what would be normal,” he said. “It’s a good time to put all your important documents in order, in the cloud, on the computer or a thumb drive. Make sure prescriptions are refilled.”

“Those little things become big things,” he said.

Slamon said there is a lot more information for people on the Carson City website. Go to carson.org and click on the Fire Department tab. In the list of items on the left hand side of the page, click Earthquake Preparedness. There you can check out the Preparedness Guide or the list of suggested items for a 72-hour emergency kit among other options.