Wells residents say earthquake was the 'scariest thing ever'

WELLS " No serious injuries were reported but a number of area residents said they were scared to death by the 6.0 magnitude earthquake that rocked northeast Nevada early Thursday.

"It was scary, the scariest thing ever," said Karen Swabb, who lives in Clover Valley near the epicenter of the quake about 11 miles southeast of Wells.

"I never imagined it could be like that," she told the Elko Daily Free Press. She said friends in Wells told her "one of their fish flew out of the bowl."

Donna Anderson of Wells said there was no advance warning before the quake hit at 6:16 a.m.

"It just immediately jumped into rattling the walls," she told The Associated Press from the Wagon Wheel residential motel where she lives with her dog, Sis. She said it seemed like the shaking went on for "five or six hours" but probably lasted only a few minutes.

"I wasn't terribly scared but it felt like everything was just going to crumble down around us," she said.

Steve Rodriguez of Wells said he and his wife had just awaken when the quake struck.

"It's been a pretty wild morning," he said. "It hammered us. It flopped us pretty good. It was pretty unnerving, harrowing experience."

Rodriguez reported that while his home appeared structurally sound, the contents were rearranged.

"It's a disaster in here," he said. "Curio cabinets got flipped over, we've got TVs on the floor."

The Wells Rural Electric Co-op suffered extensive damage to its offices, employee Clay Fitch said. A transformer at the company's main power substation shifted six inches, but no power outages were reported.

"Everything not bolted down is in the middle of the floor," Fitch said.

About 60 miles east at the Wendover Nugget Hotel and Casino on the Utah line, Erika Hernandez, 20, was having an otherwise quiet morning answering phones when the quake hit.

"We thought somebody was chasing somebody upstairs," she said. "All of a sudden, we just stare at each other and it came harder and we were like, 'That's not a run."'

She sprinted for an exit when she saw the all-glass building front moving and the walls shaking. Then, just as suddenly as the commotion started, everything went quiet.

"We didn't really know what to do. We started thinking about our families, so we called them up on the phone," Hernandez said.

Clark Reeder, bell captain at Salt Lake City's Little America Hotel " 160 miles east of Wells " said the lobby's three chandeliers were swinging back and forth during the quake.

"Each of the little crystals were shaking individually," said Reeder, 52. "It was kind of awesome."

The quake also was felt in Idaho.

"We were just sitting here in the house and felt it rattle and roll," said Lorie Kruse, who lives in a farmhouse in Filer. "My husband knew instantly exactly what it was.

He said, 'That's an earthquake, Lorie."'

"I'm not very good at saying how long it lasted, but it felt like the bed was moving," Boise resident Janet Wilson told The Idaho Statesman. "It was a back-and-forth motion, it woke me up."