For the First Time Ever Recorded an Earthquake is Responsible for a Death in Nevada

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The jeep where Troy Ray was found dead under the vehicle that Nevada officials think may have collapsed on him due to earthquakes last week. Credit: Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP

For the first time in recorded history, an earthquake is responsible for the death of a person in Nevada. Although, the quake in question was actually in California, reports the RGJ.

A Pahrump man was killed on July 4 when a 6.4-magnitude earthquake shook the Ridgecrest area in California some 100 miles away. The shock was strong enough to shake the jacked-up Jeep he was working under off its support and onto 55-year-old Troy Ray, pinning and killing him

Ray died of traumatic asphyxia and other injuries including blunt force injury, according to the Nye County Sheriff’s Office. He was last seen at a gas station in Pahrump on Wednesday, July 3 and was found underneath the vehicle several days later on July 9.

earthquake
A car drives past a crack in the road on Highway 178, south of Trona, after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit in Ridgecrest, California, on July 4, 2019. Credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP

Unfortunately, with no witnesses, it’s unlikely anyone will ever know for sure if it was the earthquake that caused the Jeep to fall — but the sheriff’s office believes it’s the most plausible explanation.


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