Amador locals reported feeling the shock of an earthquake that hit northeastern Nevada last Friday. According to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colorado, the quake struck at 6:15 am with a magnitude of 6.0.  The trembler was felt across most of the West, from Southern California to Utah and Arizona, with as many as 30 separate reports of aftershocks. Officials received calls from Amador County and Sacramento residents after the initial quake hit.

Most affected was the town of Wells in Elko County in a sparsely populated area near the Utah border. Elko County officials declared a state of emergency.  Almost all of the town’s 700 residential structures had some damage. The town of about 1,300 was closed to all but residents, the Nevada Highway Patrol said. Officials posted signs along nearby highways telling motorists to fill up on gasoline elsewhere. In the high desert along the California Trail traveled by Western pioneers, Wells was founded by Central Pacific Railroad in the 1860s. Friday's quake temporarily disrupted the railroad in the sierras now owned by Union Pacific.