ELKO -- Another measurable earthquake struck in the Elko area recently, according to the seismology lab at the University of Nevada, Reno.
The 3.9 quake occurred at 8:18 a.m. Thursday about halfway between Elko and Carlin.
Local police and fire dispatchers said they received no reports from anyone who may have felt the quake.
Seismologist Diane dePolo of UNR verified the event this morning.
"It didn't look that big to the folks here in the analysts' room," she said. But it was too big to have been a mining blast and "the character of the waves doesn't look like a blast," she added.
Still, the data wasn't detailed enough to determine a depth.
Last year, Elko County had the biggest earthquake in the state -- a 4.6 on the Richter scale -- centered about 45 miles north of Elko. Nobody reported to UNR about feeling that one, either.
Thursday's quake is the biggest in Nevada so far in 2002.
A 3.5 quake occurred near the Beowawe Geysers in northern Eureka County on the morning of Jan. 31. Other quakes of 3.5-magnitude or larger were a 3.7 east of Susanville, Calif., and a 3.5 in Lincoln County near Pioche.
Most Nevada earthquakes occur in the western portion of the state. The northeast corner is considered less seismically active because of its geological age.
Besides the two recent events, the only other 3.5-magnitude or larger quake to hit Elko County in the past decade was a 3.8 on Aug. 12, 1995. It was centered between Tuscarora and Midas.
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