Shallow Quake Confirmed Beneath Lake Tahoe

A shallow magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck beneath Lake Tahoe on Friday but there were no immediate reports of any injuries of serious damage, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed.

The quake reported at 8:25 a.m. was about 5.5 miles west of Tahoe’s east shore.

Hundreds of people as far away as Reno reported on the U.S. Geological Survey web site they felt the temblor but nearly all indicated the shaking was “weak.”

The Washoe County sheriff’s office did not receive any immediate reports of damage and its deputies did not feel it, sheriff’s spokeswoman Sarah Johns said Friday.

The Nevada Seismological Lab originally reported the magnitude as 4.3, but the geological survey’s revised estimate put it at 4.2. Several aftershocks followed, the largest 3.1. A magnitude 2.9 quake was reported earlier closer to the north shore at 4:59 a.m.

The event follows a series of earthquakes May 6 north of Lake Tahoe, about 27 miles west of Reno and the largest magnitude of those quakes was 4.7. None caused any damage.

The geological survey estimated the depth of Friday’s temblor at 5.5 miles It said structural damage was not expected from a quake that shallow.