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Quake rocks Wells: Magnitude 6.0 temblor causes extensive damage

By DOUG McMURDO - Associate Editor
Thursday, February 21, 2008 2:18 PM PST

A car lies buried in rubble in the historic district of downtown Wells this morning after an earthquake rocked the small northeastern Nevada community. (Ross Andreson/Elko Daily Free Press)

WELLS - Virtually every home and business in Wells sustained damage shortly after 6 this morning when a 6.0 magnitude earthquake occurred roughly 11 miles southeast of this city 50 miles east of Elko.

Despite widespread damage, particularly to the city's historic Front Street downtown district, only three injuries were reported and nobody has been reported missing.

Tom Turk, a regional forester with the Nevada Division of Forestry and the public information officer at the incident, said the city of approximately 1,600 residents is virtually shut down.

“Schools are closed, schools were damaged,” said Turk as teams of firefighters branched out to assess damage.

Interstate 80 and Highway 93 remain open, but off-ramps into the city are closed to non-residents. Identifications will be checked by law enforcement positioned at every off-ramp.

“We're asking residents to put signs in windows telling us they're OK,” said Turk. “There are 700 residential structures and every one of them, and every business structure has sustained damage.”

That was certainly the case at Stuart's Foodtown - the only grocery store in the city - where owners Yvonne and LaMont Stuart and their employees confronted quite a mess.

Commodities that fell off the shelves littered every aisle, and the faint scent of alcohol permeated the building as bottles of liquor shattered.

Tiles from the suspended ceiling fell and cracks in the store's foundation were evident. Power to the building was cut off - as it was elsewhere in the city - as Yvonne Stuart walked through her store with a flashlight to light her path.

Stuart said Associated Foods was sending a disaster team to Wells, along with trucks loaded with emergency supplies, food and water for residents.

Two employees were on duty when the quake hit.

Shonna Jarman, a life-long Wells resident, was cooking biscuits and gravy in the store's deli when she felt the shock.

“At first I thought a truck hit the building, but then I thought ‘this is lasting too long. This is an earthquake and where should I stand.'”

Jarman said she turned off the propane burners in the deli and then called home to check on her family. “It was scary. I didn't panic … well, I panicked a little at first, but then I thought of my family and calmed down.”

Yvonne Stuart said she hoped power would be restored as the store's freezer compartments could not remain cold for more than 12 hours.

Next door at Wells Auto and Hardware store, owner Mitch Smith and his crew cleaned up spilled paint and other debris.

In typical rural Nevada fashion, Smith and the Stuarts, along with their respective employees, are stoic. “It's mother nature,” said Smith. “What good would it do to be upset? We've already decided to have a half-off sale on dented cans of paint.”

While Turk said virtually every structure in the city sustained damage, some seen and some unseen, the already crumbling historic downtown district was destroyed. Facades were toppled and brick and mortar piled up and down the street.

A support beam crushed an unoccupied car and windows were shattered throughout the area.

One person reportedly broke an arm and another had to be treated for stress-related breathing problems. That stress could continue throughout the day. Roughly 30 aftershocks, including six that were significant, could be felt.

Wells Mayor Rusty Tybo told Turk he was pleased with the level of response.

“We had a lot of support,” said Turk.

Those on scene include the Nevada Division of Forestry, the cities of Carlin, Elko, West Wendover and the communities of Deeth and Jackpot, the State Division of Environmental Management, Nevada Highway Patrol, Nevada Department of Transportation and the law enforcement wing of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Gov. Jim Gibbons landed at Elko Regional Airport at 12:30 p.m. and toured the damage in Wells this afternoon.

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