Extension or thinning of the crust has resulted in numerous faults accommodating strain, at the same time, producing earthquakes.

[3] Since the earthquake occurred in a remote part of the state, damage was limited and no deaths were reported.

[4] This network of predominantly strike-slip and normal faults termed the Central Nevada Seismic Belt (CNSB) occasionally undergoes large "beltlike" earthquake sequences to help accommodate regional stresses with multiple sequences having occurred in the past 13,000 years.

[6][8] During the earthquake, many eyewitness reported lightning bolts and "mysterious lights" in Carson Valley.

Shaking reached the maximum of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale in Nevada, and overall, was felt for an area size of 850,000 square km.