Triple quakes hit western US on the Richter scale early Wednesday

Three earthquakes measuring 5.7, 5.7 and 5.5 on the Richter scale early Wednesday morning hit an area close to the state border between Nevada and California in the western United States.

The United States Geological Survey said the first two tremors took place four minutes apart at 12:18 a.m. and 12:22 a.m. local time (0818 and 0822 UTC) about 28 km from Hawthorne, the county seat of Mineral County in western Nevada. Then, at 1:13 a.m. (0913 UTC), the third one rocked the same area.

Initial reports indicated that the quakes had depth of 8.2 km, 12 km and 8.6 km, respectively.

The first two quakes were followed by a 3.6

magnitude aftershock at 12:29 a.m. (0829 UTC) and another 3.9-magnitude aftershock at 12:57 a.m. (0857 UTC).

There have been no immediate reports of casualties or damage from Hawthorne, which has a population of more than 3,200 according to the 2010 U.S. census.

However, they were reportedly felt in Gardnerville, Reno, Sparks and Carson City in Nevada and parts of Northern California.

source: Xinhua