6.5 magnitude earthquake hits U.S. state of Nevada

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake hit U.S. western state of Nevada at 4:03 a.m. local time Friday (1103 GMT), according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

The epicenter, with a depth of 7.6 km, is 56 km west of the town of Tonopah in western Nevada. The earthquake was felt throughout central California, Nevada and southern Utah.

First recorded as 6.4, the USGS later raised it to a 6.5 earthquake, which has had numerous aftershocks including at least one above magnitude 5.0.

The earthquake was reportedly the largest to hit Nevada since 1954.

"As the third most seismic state in the nation, we kind of had a streak of not having big earthquakes for 66 years," Graham Kent, director of the Nevada Seismological Laboratory, was quoted as saying by CNN.

"This area is an active seismic region," noted the Nevada Seismological Laboratory at the University of Nevada, Reno in a statement.

"About two dozen earthquakes in the magnitude 5 range have occurred within 65 miles (about 104 km) of this event over the past 50 years, mostly to the west and south," the statement added.

Within the first hour following the earthquake, more than 8,000 people reported feeling it. Some residents said that they woke up to their house shaking due to the earthquake. Shaking was felt by people in cities as far away as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City.

There are no reports of fatality yet.

The USGS warned that the area will continue to experience more earthquakes than usual.

"When there are more earthquakes, the chance of a large earthquake is greater which means that the chance of damage is greater," said the USGS in an aftershock forecast.

The agency advised local residents to be aware of the possibility of aftershocks, especially when in or around vulnerable structures such as unreinforced masonry buildings.

According to the forecast, over the next week there is a 4 percent chance of one or more aftershocks that are larger than magnitude 6.5. It is likely that there will be smaller earthquakes over the next week.

Several areas of the highway have damage caused from the earthquake, according to the Esmeralda County Sheriff's Office. The Sheriff's Office posted several photos which showed fractures in U.S. Highway 95.

Nevada Department of Transportation said that U.S. Highway 95 between the U.S. Route 6 junction and U.S. Highway 360 will remain closed hours more for earthquake related inspections and repairs.